Big Mistake
by The Grimreaper PT
Summary: Connor and Murphy are introduced to Rocco's sister Anna. Big mistake, especially when they discover that she is in trouble. Her husband is beating her and eventually tries to kill her, but they can't tell Rocco because her husband is Lorenzo Yakavetta, Papa Joe's youngest son. Random idea that would not go away. Starts pre-movie but will go till at least Rocco's death. M for chap18
1. Anna

Note: This story came to me randomly this morning and I just had to write it down. I have no idea where it came from but let me know what you think.

Updated 7/4/14, 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

It all started when Rocco brought her into the bar. Big mistake. Of all the places he could have taken her to that night, he had to bring her there. But then David Della Rocco had never been all the bright. Now, mostly you couldn't have said the same about my brother and me. Generally we were more intelligent than we let on, playing ourselves down. It was a survival trait really, keeping other people's expectations low so that we could be left alone to our simple life. When it came to women however, we could be monumentaly stupid and Anna Yakavetta was prime example of that.

Anna was Rocco's younger sister, but you wouldn't know it to look at her. At first sight, at least back then, all anybody saw when they looked at Anna, was her husband Lorenzo Yakavetta. Lorenzo was the youngest son of Papa Joe Yakavetta, The Yakavetta, head of the Italian mob. In all the pictures you passed her over as just another one of Lorenzo's accessories. A stick thin bleach blonde bimbo with expensive taste. You spent more time looking at the ridiculour fur coat she always wore rather than the body underneath.

That night when Rocco walked into the bar with one arm around his little sister all conversation stopped. She was stunning, slap you in the face absolutely breathtaking. But that was hidden under all the make-up and overpriced jewellery she wore, not to mention that extravegant coat. It was as if she was trying to hide behind this disguise, but it didn't suit her at all. When you actually saw her in person it was obvious, at least to us, that she hated the picture she projected on the world.

"Hey guys!"

Rocco exclaimed steering the woman on his arm towards us as we sat at the bar.

"I'd like you to meet my baby sister Anna."

She extended her hand out to us then with a shy smile that contrasted sharply with the image that she forced onto the world. I took the hand briefly before allowing my brother the same privilege.

"Connor, and this is my brother Murphy."

Murph nodded as he took the delicate hand, kissing it once before letting it go, and I could tell that he was just as intrigued by the contrast in this woman as I was.

"Pleasure to meet you, m'am"

Rocco smiled enthusiastically as he turned to the bar to gain Doc's attention, his arm falling away from his sister's fur covered shoulder.

"How about we get ourselves a table while your brother gets the drinks in?"

I asked. She nodded, again shyly before following us to a the booth in the corner. Murphy and I took one side of the table, while she sat across from us. Her eyes continually flicking from our faces to Rocco as he ordered the drinks.

"So Anna, what brings you to our little corner of this glorious city."

I smiled at my brother's exagerated gesturing as he spoke, but then I saw the sad look that crept into the girls eyes and it slipped from my face.

"It has been some time since I have been able to spend time with my brother."

It was the first time that she had actually spoken to us and the quiet voice seemed as out of place as her appearance. Her words seemed so practiced and far too formal to our ears, especially for someone related to Roc. We looked at one another for a moment before I leant forward a little to speak to her in a low voice.

"Anna?"

She looked up from where her eyes had been resting on the table, but only for a moment.

"Does your husband know that you're here?"

We weren't blind. We had seen Lorenzo Yakavetta's picture often enough with her anchored at his side. Rocco had even mentioned once that he had gotten his job with Lipazzi rather than one of his street thugs, because his sister had married into the ruling family. But Anna herself was nothing like what we had been expecting.

"My husband is out of town."

That was all she said, and she hadn't really answered my question, but I didn't ask her again as that was when Rocco joined us.

After that she seemed to relax, and we could see that the real Anna, the Anna beneath the disguise was nothing like the image she projected to the world from Yakavetta's side. This was the Anna that Rocco saw, the Anna that he had grown up with. She was playful and sarcastic with a witty intelligence, and although it was difficult to tell under all that make-up, only a little younger than her brother. They laughed and talked together like they were children again, stopping every so often during a private joke or a story of childhood to include us in their conversation. Anna wasn't as shy when her brother was around, it was as if she was a different person, as if she was finally able to be herself after hiding for a long time, as if he was the only one who knew the real her.

By the time that it was Rocco's round again she was even comfortable enough to talk to us as animatedly as she had her brother. Her disguise had fallen and Anna Della Rocco was infront of us instead of Anna Yakavetta. She even started to shrug the fur coat off of her shoulders, subconsciously as if it were an outward extension of her thoughts, making herself more comfortable, leaning forward to continue the story she had been telling.

"...and then he tripped knocking us both into the water!"

We laughed at yet another description of Rocco's clumsiness, before we both stopped dead. We had obviously noticed them at the same time, the bruises on her arms. We hadn't been able to see them before, with the coat covering her so effectively. But sitting there in her black tanktop and leggingd, the dark bruises stood out starkly against her skin. They were all across her shoulders and upper arms, the glaring purple marks with older yellow bruises underneath, as if someone had gripped her arms and shaken her violently. The same could be seen on her wrists and I knew that I wasn't the only one wondering where else they were hidden. From what we knew about Anna I could think of only one person who could have gotten close enough to leave those marks, and it wasn't her brother.

Anna had noticed our shock quickly, and after nervously glancing at her brother's back she pulled the coat back on, clearly regretting letting herself become so relaxed, so vunerable.

"He doesn't hear about this."

She said sharply, tilting her head towards Rocco at the bar. I wanted to protest, we both did, but the look in her eyes told us not to.

"If he finds out... He'll just get angry and end up doing something stupid. And I don't want him to get hurt."

Murphy and I shared a look and then nodded in agreement. We knew Rocco well enough to know what she was talking about. If he had seen those bruises on his little sister's arms, it wouldn't matter who Lorenzo was. He would have walked right up to that bastard and shot him right between the eyes. But as much as we liked Anna and wanted her scumbag husband to pay, there was no way that he would get away with it. Especially with Rocco working for the family.

That was when it struck us.

"How did Rocco get the job with Lipazzi?"

I asked glancing over at the bar again to make sure he wasn't within earshot, before looking back at Anna to see her shoulders slump.

"It was Lorenzo. He said that he wanted to make sure my brother was well looked after. It didn't take me long after we were married to figure out the truth."

That was when Rocco returned with drinks and a smile. Anna perked up again instantly, obviously determined to enjoy every moment of a rare night out with her brother. But we didn't forget what she had said, and worse yet what she had implied. Lorenzo had gotten Rocco the job to keep him close, to keep an eye on him, to keep Anna in line. I very much doubted that Anna's husband knew that she was out with us, and that was a big mistake.


	2. The Hat

Note: Well here is Chapter 2. I have never experienced domestic abuse, but I know that sometimes it is impossible for people on the outside to see. Even close family if it is hidden well enough so I hope I haven't been unfair to Rocco with his ignorance of the situation.

Updated 7/4/14 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

It was a few weeks before we saw Anna again, but I know that we were both thinking about her. Anytime we saw her husband's picture in the paper or on television we wondered if we were doing the right thing, keeping what we knew from her brother. Especially when we saw him with his arm around her, or worse some random bimbo. But we kept quiet knowing what would happen. The more I thought about it, the more Anna's behaviour made sense. The way she would hide behind her extravagant clothes and a heavy layer of make-up. The quiet and practiced way that she spoke when she was around new people. It all made sense.

"Do you think she's alright?"

Murph asked one morning. He had been flicking through the paper he had gotten at the store earlier and had come across a picture of Anna and her husband. An oversized hat had been added to her outfit and it made me wonder what she was hiding.

"I don't know"

I said honestly, but the 'at least she is alive.' I left unsaid. It didn't need to be said. We both knew why we had to keep her secret. We both knew that if it came out Anna and her brother would both be dead within the week.

Two days after that we finally got to see her in person again. Rocco had brought her to the bar for another night out, so obviously her husband was out of town yet again. She wasn't as nervous this time, and waved at us as she came through the door.

"Hi guys."

She said happily as they approached, but the hat was still in place. I stood and tilted my head over towards the booth we had occupied the last time. She nodded and leant over to speak to her brother.

"We're just going to grab a seat"

She said and he smiled back at her.

"Alright squirt."

She nudged him playfully rolling her eyes.

"Just don't mess up the drinks order genius."

We moved quietly over to the table, but before she could sit down Murphy leant over and grabbed the hat from her head. Her eyes went wide and panic overtook her face as she tried to get it back.

"Murphy! Please."

She hissed, but he shook his head.

"What did he do this time Anna?"

She was practically hysterical now as she glanced between us and Rocco laughing at the bar, busy talking while Doc poured our drinks.

"Please, it's nothing. Just... Can we not do this here. I just want to have a drink with my brother."

Sighing Murphy handed her back the hat, if she didn't want to tell us then we couldn't make her. But we had seen what she was hiding. Even with the low light and under the make-up we could see the cut and accompanying bruise just under the hairline of her left temple. It was as if she had hit her head really hard on the table edge, or as we suspected, if someone had hit her head off of a counter top. Something thick and heavy with defined edges anyway. Rocco however didn't see it, as by the time he sat down the hat was firmly back in place.

"What the fuck is with that hat?"

He demanded laughing as she shifted in her seat to make room for him.

"What? You wouldn't know style if it slapped you in the face Asshole."

She laughed, and it almost reached her eyes. Almost, but with the hat and the low light Rocco didn't notice so we tried our best to ignore it.

We relaxed into the comfortable banter between the two siblings, but I could see that the more alcohol we consumed the more Murphy wanted to say something. When Anna got up to buy a round he followed on the pretence of going to the bathroom. But I knew that look. If I'm being honest, I was having as much trouble with this as he was. Murphy however had always been the more impulsive one, and more likely to act without thinking first. I watched him go, hoping that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

"I'm glad you guys get on"

Rocco said bringing me out of my thoughts with his quiet words.

"Yeah, she's a good kid your sister."

He was smiling softly as he looked at his hands.

"I just worry about her you know, she doesn't really have any friends. Not any that didn't come with Lorenzo I mean. She has me of course, but our parents are gone and I don't get to see her as often as I would like."

That made sense. From what I knew about Anna's husband I assumed he didn't want her socialising. He was controlling and from what I could see, he kept her on a tight leash. It was probably a big enough ask her even being there with her brother, and that was probably only possible because Lorenzo was out of town, and knew nothing about it.

"Don't worry about it Rocco. We like spending time with you guys. "

I said, because really what else was there to say. It was the truth, we liked Anna, I just worried what her husband would do if he found out. Rocco had mentioned before that he didn't get to see her often, and even then it was usually at her penthouse. But last time he had begged her to come out with him. Obviously she had agreed.

I could see Murphy at the bar with Anna. He was writing something on a scrap of paper he had taken from his pocket. I hoped it wasn't his number, but it probably was. Luckily both of our phones were cheap ones, paid for with cash. Hopefully that wouldn't matter, that Lorenzo wouldn't find out, but if he did it was untraceable.

Later that night, when we were leaving, I asked Murphy what he had said to Anna at the bar. He sighed heavily as we watched Rocco lead her back towards the city centre where her penthouse was located and confirmed my suspicions.

"I gave her my number, told her that if she ever wanted to talk about it to give us a call."

I nodded, but we both knew that she wouldn't call. So we went back to our apartment wondering if we would ever get to see her again. We would, but it wouldn't be for some time. And as it turned out I had been right to worry about Murph giving her his number. It was a big mistake.


	3. Housebound

Note: Well here is Chapter 3. It is written slightly differently and is the reason for the T rating. Warning: This chapter involves scenes of violence.

Updated 7/4/14 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

It was another two months before we saw Anna again, and by that time we were really starting to get worried. Rocco had been busy alot with work so we hadn't seen much of him either, but even he hadn't seen her recently. Although he had spoken to her, so at least we knew that she was alive. There was a distinct lack of pictures in the paper of Anna or her husband. In fact there hadn't been a single picture of her since the last time that we had seen her. So it was a little shocking after only meeting the girl twice to open our front door one day and find her sitting on one of the beds.

"Anna?"

Murphy asked as I closed the door. She was sitting with her hands in her lap in the same fur coat and hat that we had seen her in before, with the addition of a pair of over-sized sun glasses.

"Hi. The door was unlocked."

She was looking down at her hands refusing to look at us at all as she spoke.

"Is everything alright?"

I asked as my brother sat beside her on the bed, his bed. She shook her head and removed the hat and glasses, trying to make herself more comfortable while she was away from prying eyes. She placed them on her other side and we tried our hardest to keep the shock off of our faces. But that was incredibly difficult as no ammount of make-up could hide those bruises.

"No, not really"

She said looking up at me before turning to Murphy.

"You might need to change your number. He hasn't been calling you has he?"

I sat on the other bed, which was mine anyway, and watched my brother swallow nervously before talking.

"No, it's alright. He hasn't called."

She closed her eyes in relief, but the worry was still there. I knew what she was thinking and hastened to settle her fears, very glad that my brother had given her a mobile number and not our landline.

"It's a disposable anyway, right Murph? Completely untraceable. "

She nodded gratefully but didn't say anything.

"Can you tell us what happened?"

As he spoke I saw Murphy lift his hand as if to put it on her shoulder, but he stopped himself just in time. I wondered briefly what had stopped him. Was he worried about what bruises there were hidden by the coat, or was it too intimate of an action with a woman that we hardly knew? I didn't know, but put the thoughts aside as Anna started telling us her story.

_Anna sighed happily as she pushed the door open. It was so good to go out and have some fun. She really didn't see her brother enough. And his friends were nice. Putting her hand in her pocket she found the number that Murphy had given her. She was touched that the brother's were concerned about her, but she was fine. Shrugging the coat from her shoulders she hung it up in the closet, but not before moving the number to her change purse just in case she ever needed it. Then she took off the hat and walked through to the bedroom to put it away in the wardrobe. When she reached the doorway however she stopped._

_The lights were off, but the blinds were open so she could clearly see the outline of her husband standing by the window._

_"Where have you been?"_

_He hadn't even turned away from the window as he spoke, just stood there a glass of scotch in his hand._

_"I was out with David. How was your trip?"_

_She tried to brush it off, moving towards the walk in wardrobe without turning on the light._

_"Don't change the subject."_

_Taking a deep breath and plastering a fake smile on her face Anna moved back through to the bedroom. To think just a moment ago she hadn't had to pretend, she had actually been happy._

_"So, where did your 'brother' take you?"_

_He asked, putting extra venom on the word brother. Anna ignored it and tried to sound cheerful._

_"I don't remember what it was called. Some dive on the south side."_

_She busied herself getting ready for bed as she talked, deliberately being vague, she didn't want to get anyone into trouble. But still she didn't move to turn on the light. If Lorenzo wanted the light on he would have done it himself and she didn't want to provoke him. To be honest she hadn't been expecting him home so soon. He was supposed to be out of town. That was why she had suggested to her brother that they go out. Yes it had been her suggestion this time, rather than his. She had really enjoyed herself last time, despite her foolishness. She loved spending time with her brother, and with his friends as well, even though she knew that her husband wouldn't have liked the idea._

_"That's twice in one month you've been out with him. Is there something you have to tell me?"_

_Lorenzo slammed his glass down on the small table beside him as he turned quickly. Anna forced the smile to stay on her face even though fear was corsing through her. How did he know she had gone out a few weeks ago?_

_"No, of course not. It's just with you out of town I thought I would spend some time with him."_

_Even though she had been dreading it, the moment her husband forced her against the wall by her shoulders took her by surprise. His iron grip digging into the bruises that were still there from a couple of days ago._

_"Don't lie to me princess!"_

_She tried to keep herself calm, as he dug his thumbs into the soft flesh between her shoulder and collar bone. Getting upset or crying out would only make things worse._

_"I promise Lorenzo, I was just out with David. He heard that you were out of town, and he suggested we go out so that he could keep an eye on me."_

_Anna tried her best not to flinch as the slap connected, but it stung. He sneered at her before leaning over to whisper in her ear._

_"How can I trust you when even your worthless brother thinks you need 'kept an eye on'."_

_With that he pushed her to the floor and stood over her._

_"If I ever catch you sneaking out again Anna, I will beat you within an inch of your life."_

_The kick that accompanied that last point got her square in the stomach knocking the wind out of her. As he left relief flooded through Anna. It could have been much worse, and probably would have been if he had had any more to drink before she had gotten home._

_The next few days blurred together as Anna was forced to stay inside. The slap had left a mark on her cheek and she couldn't be seen outside just yet. Lorenzo had been working, so it hadn't been much of a problem. Except at night. He had been working late, and as a result he had been drinking more than usual._

_Every night for the next two weeks Anna spent trying not to react to the blows her husband greeted her with. She still couldn't let anyone see her because Lorenzo took less care about where he hit her when he had been drinking. But she dealt with it, and during her weekly calls to her brother she did her best to remain cheerful. Luckily for her she was the only one at home when she actually called David because she couldn't help asking how the MacManus brothers were doing. She really did like them and considered them friends even though she had only met them a couple of times._

_Once Lorenzo was at home more often however, things quickly got worse. Anna had been in the kitchen cooking breakfast one day when he had stormed in slamming something down on the kitchen table. Anna flinched, but forced herself to stay calm and continued cooking the eggs and bacon he had requested._

_"What is this!"_

_He demanded and her heart stopped. She turned around slowly and tried to hide her relief when she saw the receipt on the table. For a moment she had been expecting Murphy's number to be sitting there. But she couldn't let that show._

_"What do you mean?"_

_She asked doing her best to keep her breathing in check. She was glad that she had taken the precaution of moving the scrap of paper into her change purse. She knew that sometimes Lorenzo liked to go through her pockets, and obviously that's exactly what he had been doing that morning._

_"Don't play stupid with me. This is a receipt from when you were out with your brother last month!"_

_Anna braced herself but the hit knocked her off centre, forcing her to lean heavily against the counter. He had a belt around one fist and had smacked her in the ribs with the buckle._

_"And do you know what it says?"_

_She knew from experience not to answer that question, but it was punctuated with another hit as she gripped the counter tightly to stop herself from falling._

_"It says that you were lying to me Anna. It says that there were four people out that night."_

_Anna concentrated on breathing through the pain debating whether to suggest that she and Rocco had been buying double rounds to save time, but she kept quiet knowing that he wouldn't believe her. If she waited long enough and didn't call out in pain it would be over soon._

_"Four people Anna, not two."_

_She didn't hear very much after that because the blows came faster until suddenly they stopped. She had fallen to the floor while Lorenzo stood over her with the frying pan she had left on the hob. For the first time in a long time Anna wondered if he would actually stop this time. But she didn't have long to think on it before he grabbed her arm and tilted the pan. The bacon and eggs fell to the floor frgotten as the hot oil ate through her skin._

_When Anna woke up some time later, she was lying in bed surrounded by pillows. She couldn't move, everything hurt. She groaned a little as she tried to sit up but she couldn't. Her wounds had been bandaged, but she could see that Lorenzo had done it himself rather than call a doctor. She would have to re-do them herself soon, especially the oil burns. She knew from experience that they needed more attention to heal._

_"How are you feeling?"_

_She tried not to flinch at the sound of his voice by the door. All that the concern in his voice did was make her heart-rate pick up and panic flash through her. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. Lorenzo however, didn't seem to notice._

_"You know if you just did what I said, this wouldn't happen."_

_He was sitting beside her on the bed now petting her head._

_"You just rest up and I will check on you in a bit."_

_She did her best to ignore the bile rising in her throat as he leant down to kiss her on the forehead. Then he stood up moving towards the door, before he stopped to say something else._

_"Oh, your brother called. I told him that you weren't feeling well so he is going to call back in a couple of days."_

_Anna closed her eyes and drifted back into unconsciousness. _

_It took another couple of weeks, but as soon as she was able to move about on her own again Anna started looking for her change purse. She had to be careful about it. She didn't want to tip Lorenzo off to the fact that there was something to find. But after three days she was starting to worry. He had been worse than she had expected from just finding the receipt. How would he react if he found the number scrawled onto half of a similar receipt hidden with her loose change. She went through the pockets of her fur coat again, and then went back to searching through her handbag._

_"Looking for something?"_

_Anna froze, debating whether to lie, whether to claim she had lost her lipstick, when he made the decision for her._

_"Maybe, this is what you were looking for."_

_The change purse landed with a thunk on the coffee table between them. Anna swallowed._

_"Thank you. I was thinking of ordering in tonight. Pizza?"_

_She moved towards the kitchen with the purse, but he grabbed her before she could pass him. He leant down to whisper in her ear, his grip tightening impossibly as he did so._

_"Who's M?"_

_He asked and Anna's mind flashed to the number she had hidden. He had found it, he had actually found it! She should have thrown it away, or burned it or something. But she had liked having that lifeline, liked having friends other than her brother, or her husbands work contacts. It was nice to have the option to talk to someone about her life, even if she never used it. She tried to think of something, anything that could save her. Then inspiration hit her._

_"Michelle Wilson, she's an old school friend. I must have forgotten to mention it to you. I ran into her and her cousin Linda when I was out with David. She gave me her number so that we could catch up."_

_She tried to smile, but she couldn't breathe. In truth she hadn't seen Michelle since she left school, and even then they hadn't been friends. But it was the only M that she could think of that wasn't Murphy._

_"You're lying to me again princess."_

_The only thing that she got a chance to think before the pain blotted everything out, was that she really should have seen this coming. What was she thinking wanting friends of her own, what had she expected? The whole thing had been a big mistake and she knew it._


	4. Tension

Note: Well here is Chapter 4. I don't know whether this story feels like it is moving too fast because I am writing it all in one go as I usually take a long time to update. Please R&amp;R.

Updated 7/4/14 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

We sat silently for a moment when Anna finished speaking. It was a lot to take in, not that we hadn't guessed much of it, but the few details she had given us were atrocious. Her coat was on the bed now beside the hat and glasses. Again subconsciosly shrugged off as she tried to make herself comfortable, but this time we forced ouselves not to react. We could see even more of the marks Lorenzo had left on her skin. The bruises we had been expecting. But even when she had mentioned the frying pan we hadn't expected the extent of the burns. It had been weeks ago, but still the angry red marks could be seen streaking across her right forearm. I wondered briefly how hot the oil had been when he had poured it on her, but i didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say, what could you say? Suddenly Murphy was on his feet pacing, obviously as agitated as I felt. But he knew what he wanted to say.

"You're not going back there."

He was pacing back and forward trying to formulate a plan in his mind. That was the way he was when he was upset, all nervous energy. But I knew that wasn't why she had come to see us. She had already warned us about the number that Lorenzo had found, and made sure that we were alright. Now I could see that she was itching to get back home. It must have been a huge risk as it was, her leaving the house, even if Lorenzo was away on business yet again. But Murphy was acting as if she was leaving Lorenzo for good.

"Right Connor? You can stay here for a couple of days, until we can get everything sorted..."

Anna was looking up at him in shock, clearly terrified at what he was saying, and I debated stepping in. But I knew my brother too well.

"Murphy?"

She asked quietly, but he didn't hear her. He was too caught up in his worry.

"Murphy?"

A little louder this time. He heard it and instantly he was kneelin infront of her, one of her hands in his

"What is it Anna?"

His voice was quiet again, gentle, but I knew it wasn't going to last. I knew what she was going to say, deep down I think Murphy knew as well, and he wasn't going to like it.

"I have to go back. I've been out too long as it is."

I cringed as Murphy shot to standing again, Anna's hand dropping to her lap. He was angry, furious. I knew it wasn't directed at her, at the situation yes, at her refusal to leave her husband, at the danger she was putting herself in, but not at her. That's not how it appeared on the outside however as he yelled out his frustration.

"What the fuck! You can't go back. Look at yourself Anna! Look at what he's done to you! What he's doing to you!"

I grabbed his arm in an attempt to calm him but he shook me off. He hadn't calmed any, the nervous energy still running through him. But at least he wasn't throwing punches my way, or at the wall, as I had been expecting.

"At least I'm alive."

It was quiet, and she said it with a sad sort of smile. As if she wished it wasn't true. And I saw my brother crumble.

"Not for long"

Murphy had spoken just as quietly and then that was it, that was the moment that my brother stormed out. Slamming the door behind him with a crash which made Anna flinch. I sighed leaning forward with my elbows on my knees.

"He's not angry at you Anna. He just... He's worried about you. We both are."

She was pulling her coat back over her shoulders, making ready to leave, putting on that barrier against the rest of the world, but I didn't stop her.

"I know Connor, I know. But I can't leave. There is nowhere that I can go that he won't find me. Besides I couldn't do that to David, put him in danger like that. And I don't want to put either of you in danger. That's why I came. I wanted to warn you."

I nodded unsure of what to say. I knew that nothing i could say would change her mind. So I helped her get ready and then I walked her home. Despite fearing for her life I stood in the shadows and watched her go through the front door. It didn't surprise me when I heard Murphy's voice beside me. I had assumed that he would follow us. He had probably been up on the roof trying to work out his frustrations.

"We have to do something Con."

I nodded as he passed me a cigarette. Things couldn't go on like this, but I couldn't think of a thing that we could do. His knuckles were bloody, but I didn't say anything. He could throw as many punches on the roof as he wanted. The landlord would complain less out damage to the brickwork up there than in our apartment. Not that he really cared either way. My brother had calmed down considerably and that was all that mattered.

"I know Murph. But there is nothing we can do. We can't force her to leave him. She doesn't need anymore controlling men in her life."

He huffed beside me, taking that as a criticism of his own behaviour, which it was. I knew that was the only answer I was going to get so I continued.

"I mean it. Shouting at her like that isn't going to help. All that we can do is let her know that we are here if she needs help, or if she ever does decide to leave him."

I turned to leave, but Murphy didn't move. His eyes refusing to leave the door Anna had walked through.

"She won't leave him. Not while Rocco is still in the line of fire. We have to tell him."

I shook my head. If we did that there was no way that she would forgive us, if she even lived through it. Lorenzo would kill Rocco and then he would go after her. Only this time he wouldn't stop.

"Then what? Sit back and watch him get himself killed going after the bastard? He's all she's got."

We stood there a little longer, feeling safe enough to do so when we realised that Lorenzo must be out of town. It was the only way that Anna would have felt able to leave at all.

"That's not true. She has us."

He said. But I wasn't convinced. So far we had done her more harm than good. It wasn't until the lights went out in the penthouse that we turned around and walked away. As we walked I watched my brother carefully. There was something off about him and I hoped it wasn't what I suspected.

When we got back home however my suspicions had been confirmed. In all of the excitement Anna had forgotten her glasses. They were lying on the floor between our beds, one arm lying broken. Probably from my own boot as I had helped her to stand before walking her home. Murphy leant down and retreaved them with a soft sigh before placing them reverantly on the side table. I hadn't seen that look on my brother's face very often. But I knew what it meant.

"Murph?"

He looked at me shaking his head.

"Leave it Connor, just leave it."

If I had needed any more confirmation, that would have been it. My brother was in love. After three months and only seeing the girl three times, he was in love with Anna Yakavetta. I couldn't leave it. Not with my conscience intact.

"It's impossible."

I muttered, mostly to myself, but he heard me.

"What's impossible Connor, what?"

I felt for him. He knew as well as I did that falling for Anna was a bad idea. That's why he was still so angry.

"You're going to have to let it go Murphy. Whatever it is you feel for her..."

He collapsed onto the bed his eyes on the ceiling rather than look at me as he spoke.

"I know. I'm trying. Just leave it, alright."

I left it there for the moment and went back to worrying in the privacy of my own mind. It was strange how quickly it had happened. But then thinking back on it, although we had only met her a handful of times, those times had been pretty intense. That first night in McGinties it must have been instantaneous for him. The way he looked at her that night, the way that they interacted with each other. I really should have seen it coming. Of course that was before we had realised what had been happening to Anna at home, before we had stumbled upon her secret. I couldn't imagine what my brother was going through. It must be difficult enough falling for a married woman, but this? No doubt Murphy had been worrying about Anna between the few times that we had seen her, as I had. But to know that the woman he loved, not only was already married, but would not leave her husband despite what he had done and no doubt would continue to do to her. And then on top of that, learning from her that the fact that she had spent time with us, had taken his number, had served to intensify the beatings. I'm not sure that I would have been able to cope with all that, but Murphy would have to. Yes falling in love with Anna was a big mistake.


	5. Change

Note: Here is Chapter 5. I seem to have been on a roll with this story. I started it on Wednesday morning, and as I write this it is Thursday afternoon. However as I am on a trip to visit family I may not get a chance to upload anything else until at least Monday.

This is my first attempt at either a Boondock Saints fic, or the uncomfortable subject matter, so let me know what you think.

Updated 7/4/14.

**Big mistake**

We didn't expect to see Anna for a long time after that, so we prepared for another extensive period of worrying. We learned from Doc that she had been to the bar not long before we had found her in our apartment. Although thankfully it had been quiet that day, seeing her distress Doc had given her our address so that she could wait for us without being disturbed. We asked him not to mention it to Rocco and that was the end of it as far as he was concerned. We had known Doc ever since we had first come to America and we trusted him implicitly.

We went back to looking for pictures of Anna in the paper, but with the addition of walking past her penthouse every couple of nights. Mostly Murphy took that duty upon himself, but sometimes I insisted on going with him. If I didn't he was likely to stand there for hours and I worried that Lorenzo would catch sight of him and figure out what was going on. Much to our surprise Anna began to be pictured in the papers again within a couple of weeks. She had a new pair of sunglasses and the hat was still there, but at least she had been well enough to leave the house. Sometimes while we were watching her house we would see them come and go, Lorenzo's arm ever holding Anna tightly to his side, but gradually we knew the bruises were fading. And from what we could see no new ones had come to replace them, at least not where we could see them, she still wore the ridiculous fur coat wherever she went.

It was just over a month after the apartment incident that Anna finally returned to McGinties on her brother's arm. We were pleasently surprised to see her looking so well. She waved to us from the door, and then leaning to whisper in Rocco's ear she gestured towards the empty booth. He nodded and she moved to the table making herself comfortable before we joined her. She seemed much happier, but although the hat and glasses had gone, the coat was still there.

"How are you Anna?"

Murphy asked the question as soon as we reached her, but she didn't seem to mind. She was still smiling at us, although it had faded slightly.

"I'm much better thank you. Things are much better."

I could see that he wanted to say more, but I nudged him towards the seat. Huffing slightly he sat down, but then his face softened and he smiled across the table.

"Good. I'm glad."

Then he turned to shout at the approaching figure of Rocco, doing his part to keep the atmosphere light and teasing.

"Come on asshole, hurry it up. Where's my beer!"

Anna laughed along with us as her brother put the tray down. I caught Murphy's eye and he nodded. We were of the same mind. If Anna wanted to talk to us about it she would. If not we would enjoy the night as much as we could. And we did enjoy it. Just as before Anna relaxed in our presence and we almost forgot our worries, almost.

After a few hours of drinking Rocco got a phone call and had to leave for a moment to take it outside. It only took until the door closed behind him before we were both looking to Anna for reassurance that she really was alright. The dark cloud had decended on us all. She felt it and knowing we wouldn't drop the subject she sighed and she told us what had happened over the last month or so.

_Even though Lorenzo had been out of town when she had snuck out to warn the MacManus brothers, she was surprised that there was no confrontation with him about it. In fact things seemed to get much better. Slowly she began to heal and Anna wondered if her husband had forgotten the whole incident, or maybe he had scared himself with how far he had gone the last time._

_The entire time that they had been married, they had rarely had any domestic help. It wasn't that they couldn't afford it, they just never employed someone on a permanent basis. Anna didn't do anything during the day, so she was free to do whatever chores were there, and she assumed Lorenzo hadn't wanted any potential witnesses. But that too had changed. A week after he got back from his trip, Lorenzo informed his wife that they would be getting a maid._

_"I think you should get out more Anna. I don't like you confined to the house all the time."_

_Of course Anna was suspicious of her husbands motives, but she knew what he wanted to hear._

_"If that's what you want Lorenzo. If you think it's best."_

_Larena was a good worker. She cleaned the house, did the laundry, made the meals and kept an eye on Anna. That was what Lorenzo had really intended the entire time. Anna suspected that he did know she had gone out that day, so now he had a spy in the house to report back to him. As a result Anna did her best to play the dutiful wife. She left once a day to do trivial errands, because he had said she needed to get out more. But she didn't fall into his trap, she was careful about that. When Lorenzo was home she would suggest outings for them to go out as a couple and she ignored the watchers she knew were outside a lot of the time._

_The beatings decreased, but didn't go completely. They were confined to when Larena had gone home for the night and he was more careful about where he struck her, but Anna knew they would never go completely. They got into a routine and life was bareable. Besides if things got too bad she knew that there was help nearby most evenings._

_Then Lorenzo had been going out of town again, only this time he took her by surprise._

_"I think you should go out with your brother."_

_He had announced while packing his bags for the trip. Anna didn't reply, but he wasn't finished._

_"You haven't seen him in a while, and I don't like the idea of you being alone."_

_Anna didn't know what to say. It sounded like a trap, but what could she do._

_"Of course. If it would make you feel better I'll give him a call"_

_She could make the call and claim that he was busy, find some excuse not to do as he asked. But he took her by surprise once again._

_"No need, I called him earlier. He is going to pick you up at eight."_

_Anna stood in shocked silence for a moment before she forced a smile onto her face._

_"Thank you Lorenzo. It will be nice to spend some time with him."_

As Anna came to the end of her story I glanced around the room, but there were no new faces. McGinties had a loyal group of regulars from the surrounding neighbourhood, and rarely any strangers. Murphy and I exchanged a look and then he went to check the restroom for anyone who might be watching Anna for her husband.

"What about this Larena? Will she be there when you get back?"

Anna shrugged.

"I don't know, but he will have someone watching the door at least."

I wondered briefly if we should stop watching her penthouse at night, but dismissed the idea quickly. Although it seemed probable that Lorenzo knew someone was there, if Anna knew then no doubt he knew, she had been getting some reassurance from our presence. Besides I doubted I would be able to pull Murphy away from his post for any length of time no matter what the reason.

When my brother came back shaking his head I relaxed a bit. Maybe whoever was reporting back to Lorenzo couldn't follow Anna all the way here. It was a long way if you were walking, and even when Rocco drove, as he sometimes did, he had a tendency to park some distance away so as the guarantee a parking space.

Later as Rocco and his sister made their way back home we forced ourselves not to watch them go. Whatever it was that Lorenzo was planning we would try our hardest to put a stop to it. What we hadn't been expecting though, was that Anna's nights out with her brother became a regular occurance when her husband was out of town. We even started to get used to it, to expect the call when Rocco aranged to meet us, and that was a big mistake.


	6. Attraction

Note: Chapter 6 and still no reviews :(

Reviews make for a happy PT.

By the way Lorenzo is the italian form of Lawrence, and Larena means 'Serves Lawrence' according to the name meanings website I have been using.

This chapter is a little shorter than usual, as I am exhausted after my family trip. But I have corrected some errors in chapters 1-5.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

We got into a bit of a pattern after that and we started to forget the danger that Anna was in at home. Whenever Lorenzo was out of town, Rocco would join us at the bar with Anna. We still kept up our evening visits to the street outside of her home, but we had become more relaxed with the situation. There was nothing that we could do about how her husband treated her, and for her brother's sake she wouldn't leave him. So we watched and we enjoyed the time spent with her when we could.

As time went on and the months went by, I noticed Murphy's infatuation for the woman grow. I couldn't blame him for it. Anna was an attractive, intelligent woman with a good sense of humour. But there was nothing he could do to persue her. She was in a desperate situation, and no matter what Lorenzo did, he was still her husband. Rocco even asked me about it once while I was at the bar.

"Connor, can I ask you something?"

He had followed me to the bar, claiming he wanted to use the restroom.

"Sure Roc, what is it?"

I was waiting for Doc to finish serving someone at the other end of the bar and I was only half paying attention to the man beside me.

"Does Murphy have a thing for my sister?"

That grabbed my attention, and I turned to look at Anna and my brother talking and laughing together before turning back to him. I didn't know what to say to him at first but figured that I couldn't hide the truth. Especially when it was so obvious.

"He would never act on it Rocco."

He nodded and thought for a minute, giving me time to tell Doc what we wanted.

"Because she's married?"

He asked, and although it wasn't the whole truth, it was part of it, so I nodded. He seemed to relax a little at that and smiled.

"Good. I guessed as much. It's like against your religion or something. Besides even if nothing happened between them, I wouldn't like to think what Lorenzo would do. That man can be a right sadistic motherfucker. I mean I remember one time..."

I looked back over at the booth while Rocco continued talking. I didn't really want to hear the story anyway. I had heard more than enough of his work stories over the years. Besides I knew well enough what Lorenzo Yakavetta was capable of and I didn't want to think about what he would do if he found out my brother was sweet on his wife. I paid Doc what I owed as Rocco finished his story, laughing before he went to the bathroom. As I walked back to the table I hoped for Murphy's sake that what I had said was true. Especially when I noticed the way that Anna was looking at him. She was looking at Murphy in exactly the same way that he always looked at her.

Even if Lorenzo hadn't been a grade A scumbag, the way that they were looking at each other was a bad sign. Anna was married, and that fact would be playing merry hell with my brother's mind. It probably made Murphy's hatred for him even stronger.

After that I kept a closer eye on my brother, especially when we were around Anna or watching her house. But really there was nothing that I could do. I just had to hope that Murphy didn't do anything too stupid. Afterall Lorenzo didn't even know that we existed and as long as we were careful it would stay that way. I just hoped that my brother wouldn't spend his life pining over a woman that he could never have. As it turns out I was worried about the wrong thing and that was a big mistake.


	7. Notes

Note: Chapter 7 and now I seem to be slowing down in my writing.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading this story!

Please let me know what you think of it so far.

Also both Anna and Abrianna (her full first name) mean Grace. Murphy means Sea warrior.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

It was months before Anna fell into her husbands trap, and throughout that time I failed to notice how her relationship with my brother had changed, even though I had been looking. In fact it wasn't until afterwards that I learned what had been happening between the two of them. Not until things got much worse. That was when it was all explained to me.

_Anna sighed happily as she rode up in the elevator. It had been another fantastic night. Like every other night when she had gone out with David and his friends. And just like every other time there was one thing that made her happier than she had ever been before and that was Murphy MacManus. He was kind and sweet, childish and yet intelligent. She had no idea when she had fallen for the irishman, but over the last few months she had fallen hard._

_Every little smile made her heart flutter in her chest. She knew that nothing would ever happen between them. But it was still nice to feel like this. Murphy could make her feel better with just a single look. Every moment with him was a joy. She felt safe with him, especially when she knew that he was outside watching her house. Trying not to let herself get giddy over something that she could never have Anna got ready for bed._

_The next night Anna couldn't help being pleased when she spotted movement from the shadowy alleyway across from the penthouse. She couldn't tell from where she was whether Murphy was there alone or whether his brother Connor was with him. But it didn't matter. Either way he was looking out for her and that made her smile. She wished she could do something to let him know that she appreciated the trouble that he and his brother did to make her feel safe._

_The next day while she was out doing errands she had an idea. She remembered hearing that both brothers were fluent in many languages. Unfortunately she only spoke two, English and Italian, both of which Lorenzo could also speak. Mentally she went over the languages that the MacManus brothers spoke. Russian wasn't any good either, as due to the tensions between the Yakavetta's and the Russians had prompted Lorenzo to learn that as well. On impulse Anna wandered into a library. She knew which language she really wanted to use. It would be a little clumsy, but she found something on Irish Gaelic and sat down at the reading section set up as a coffee shop. Taking a pack of cigarettes out of her handbag she scribbled the words as clearly as she could on the inside of the lid. _

_**I know that this was probably not my best idea. But I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you and your brother have done for me. Do not worry about anyone else finding this out, as you and your brother are the only ones I know who would be able to understand this message. I hope this translation is not too terrible. Regards -Grace**_

_Then on the way back she walked by the alleyway she left the box where she had often seen Murphy standing. With a small smile she then took her shopping bags back to the penthouse with her. And if she slept a little better that night with the smile still on her face, she couldn't be blamed._

_The next day as she went out on her usual errands, Anna stopped by the alley and spotted the same, but now empty packet of cigarettes. Picking it up quickly, she went back to the coffee shop and opened it curiously. There was a folded up scrap of paper inside, which she smoothed out reverently. Recognising the words instantly for what they were, she retrieved the dictionary from it's shelf and began to translate the message._

_**Grace, I will not lie in that your message brought a smile to my face. And do not worry, your translation was not terrible. We are glad to help out in any way that we can and will be here as long as you need us. Always -Sea warrior**_

_Anna turned the paper over and scribbled her own note. She would have liked to keep it, but even with Lorenzo being so accomodating at the moment she couldn't risk him finding it. She didn't know whether Lorenzo's recent behaviour was due to him trying to trap her, or because he was sleeping with their maid Larena, but she couldn't take any chances. Smiling brightly she composed her reply._

_Almost everyday she went through this routine and soon Anna figured out that Murphy would only reply while he was alone. If Connor was with him he would remove their secret hideaway and replace it when he was next alone. She didn't mind, it felt good to have this little secret between them, and for two months that was what they had. Gradually over that time their little notes became more and more intimate. So much so that Anna was glad Murphy's brother didn't know what was happening. It was nothing scandalous, she was a married woman afterall. But over the weeks they had become much closer. The little hints and loving words were more than enough to make her heart flutter in her chest. She knew that she shouldn't have let it happen, but she couldn't help herself. Murphy was everything that she wished she had in her life. But then it all came crashing down._

_Anna had been getting ready to go out on her daily errands, when it happened. She had been looking forward to it all night. There had been no note the morning before meaning that Connor had been with Murphy when he found it, so she was expecting to find the customary note that day. It was always the highlight of her day translating the notes they exchanged and she felt giddy at the very thought of it. Smiling brightly she stepped out of the bedroom to get her coat._

_She didn't get very far however when she spotted Lorenzo talking to Larena by the door. Anna was a little confused by this as it did not appear that the maid was coming in, and it was well past the time that she usually arrived. The other woman smiled a cruel smirk at Anna before leaving with a wave. Anna stood stock still for a moment, while her husband read what Larena had handed him. She didn't trust the smile that crept across his face as he looked over to her and then locked the door putting the key in his pocket._

_"Did you really think that you would be able to get away with it Anna?"_

_She took a step backwards as Lorenzo moved towards her._

_"What do you mean?"_

_She asked, glancing around for an escape. But there wasn't one._

_"What's his name Abrianna?"_

_He asked, and she knew she was in trouble. He never used her proper name, noone ever did. In fact she couldn't recall the last time that she had actually heard it._

_"Who?"_

_He couldn't know, he couldn't, not for sure. Even if he had found the note that Murphy had left for her, he couldn't possibly have been able to read it. He wouldn't even have been able to tell what language it was at first glance. _

_"Your Sea warrior. Did you really think I wouldn't find out about your little affair."_

_Suddenly Anna was more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life. She wasn't having an affair, not a physical one anyway. But that didn't matter. Lorenzo strode forward forcing his wife against the wall and shoving the scrap of paper into her hand._

_"Read it to me."_

_He said, and she glanced down at the paper. At his words she had caught a glimmer of hope. He couldn't translate it, she could make something up, anything. She couldn't translate it anyway without the dictionary she had been using at the library. But then she saw the writing underneath Murphy's on the page. A word for word translation in a hand she didn't recognise. The shock forced her to say something that she instantly regretted._

_"How?"_

_He sneered at her triumphantly before he drew back and punched her to the floor._

_"You thought you were so clever didn't you, but you forgot something very important. Did you know that Larena is a celtic name, Scottish in fact, but the two languages are similar enough that she recognised what it was."_

_Anna closed her eyes and chastised herself. But he wasn't finished._

_"Her grandmother taught her Scots Gaelic when she was a child."_

_That was what had happened. Larena had recognised the Irish Gaelic text for what it was and had taken it home to translate, passing it to Lorenzo at the door._

_"I said read it to me."_

_He demanded, punctuating it with a sharp kick. Anna glanced at the paper again and swallowed._

_"M...My dearest Grace. I look forward to your notes more and more as every day passes. I wish we could have some time alone. But I fear that will not be possible. I cannot wait until your husband is next away from home. I find myself increasingly jealous of him as he gets to sleep beside you every night, and wake beside you every morning. Love always - Sea warrior."_

_Anna did her best to blink past the tears as she stopped reading. She had so been looking forward to reading those words, but Lorenzo had tainted them with his presence._

_"His name Abrianna"_

_He hissed grabbing her by the throat and hauling her back up. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes, but she didn't speak. Instead she clamped her mouth closed defiantly and stared back at him. There was no way that she was going to tell him that. She wouldn't put Murphy in danger, or his brother, or her own. Whatever Lorenzo had in mind, she would take it if it meant protecting the people that she loved._

_With each blow she thought about the fact that she didn't regret any of it. She didn't regret any of the time she had spent at McGinties, she didn't regret falling for Murphy MacManus, and she didn't regret any of the notes that they had sent between each other. Even when Lorenzo grew tired of using his fists and retrieved a knife from the kitchen, she couldn't bring herself to regret it. At leadt she had had some happiness in her life. In fact there was only one thing that she did regret, she thought as her heart-rate slowed and the darkness began to creep in, and that was marrying Lorenzo Yakavetta. That had been a big mistake._


	8. The Plan

Note: Chapter 8. I know I didn't give many details of what Lorenzo did to Anna in the last chapter, but I wanted to get across what she was thinking at the time rather than go into details of her torture. Some details however will come out later on as it will haunt her.

I know almost nothing about Medicine, and what I do know is confined to my own condition(s). Therefore this chapter will not be medically correct. I suppose it is doubtful that Anna would have survived, but she seems to have the MacManus luck on her side.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

As soon as we got to our usual hiding place that night Murphy became agitated. I didn't know what it was at the time, but he was looking for something. I ignored it for the moment as my attention was drawn to the taxi pulling up in front of Anna's building.

"Murph! Murph, are you seeing this."

Getting out of the taxi was Larena, the maid that worked for Anna and Lorenzo. My brother looked up from where he was searching the ground and frowned. It was late, dark enough for us to remain hidden in the shadows. So what was she doing there.

"Something is wrong."

He said, and he was right.

_Anna heard them talking before any of her other senses came back. She couldn't open her eyes, in fact she couldn't move at all. Actually when she thought about it, Anna realised that she couldn't feel anything at all. Realising that there was nothing that she could do about her lack of sensation, Anna concentrated on the voices coming from what she didn't realise at first was the bedroom._

_"Are you sure that she is dead?"_

_She recognised the voice. It was Larena and she sounded as sceptical as her words suggested._

_"Don't ask stupid questions Larena If she wasn't do you think I would have called you. She isn't breathing and she doesn't have a heartbeat. She's dead. Now are you going to help me with this or not."_

_Anna may have taken some perverse pleasure in the fact that Lorenzo seemed to be just as ill tempered with his mistresses as he was with her. She also enjoyed the fact that apparently he had wrongly diagnosed her condition._

_"What exactely do you want me to do?"_

_Larena asked, as Anna started to get feeling back in her body. She couldn't move yet, but she could feel that she was lying in the bathtub in something sticky that she assumed was her own blood._

_"How many times do we have to go over this? I want you to pack a bag full of Anna's clothes while I book a flight to Italy in her name. Then I want you to get dressed in some of her clothes and jewellery. I want you to dye your hair with some of her bleach and put on her make-up. Then you are going to fly to Europe with her passport and stay there until I come and get you. You won't need to worry about money, as her credit cards are still active. Meanwhile I will get someone to come and get rid of the body."_

_Anna concentrated on moving her fingers while they kept talking. She supposed that her body was in shock and that was why she was having trouble moving. She couldn't feel any pain yet, but the shock was probably keeping that at bay for the moment._

_"Where is the body?"_

_Larena asked and Anna could hear her moving around in the other room, probably packing a bag as Lorenzo had suggested._

_"I moved it into the bathroom. Now I'm going to..."_

_Poor naive Larena, Anna thought as she heard the maid interupt. She hasn't figured out when to keep her mouth shut yet._

_"What! Her body is in there! And how exactly do you expect me to bleach my hair. I'm not going in there with her!"_

_It was probably a good thing that Anna couldn't laugh yet, because she was finding the situation all too funny. That was probably the shock as well, she thought._

_"For fuck sake Larena, she's dead. It's not as if she can do anything to you. If you are that fucking paranoid I will get the bleach and you can do it over the kitchen sink. Just keep packing, I will be back in a moment."_

_Anna concentrated on keeping her breathing as shallow as possible when she heard the door opening. If Lorenzo suspected that she was alive, there was no way she was going to get out of there. She heard him moving around looking for the bleach she kept under the sink. Then he was moving towards the door and he stopped for a moment. Anna could practically feel him looking down at her._

_"Stupid Bitch"_

_He muttered as he leant forward. Anna felt the movement of the air and for ed herself to stay limp. She felt him lift her hand to remove her wedding and engagement rings before he let it drop clumsily back. Finally he left, closing the door behind him._

_"Here's the damn bleach. I'm going to call the airline. And put these on."_

_Anna heard him stomping off into the other room before she lost consciousness once again._

It was not long after Larena had arrived that we saw Lorenzo leave, which didn't make any sense. I could see the panic coursing through my brother and the anger grew with it.

"He's done something to her Connor."

We were just debating going to have a look around when another cab pulled up and one of Lorenzo's bimbos stepped out. I didn't know which one, but that didn't matter. There was no reason for her to be there. I put a hand out to stop my brother when he tried to move forward.

"We can't go in there Murph."

I meant it. Someone had been watching Anna come and go for months now. I suspected the doorman of the building, but there were also security cameras in the lobby. We didn't know for sure that anything had happened to her. If we burst in and she was fine we could end up putting her in even more danger.

"We have to!"

He demanded and I watched the fists clench as they hung by his sides. But I shook my head.

"All we know is that two women have gone in and Lorenzo has gone out. We don't even know if Anna is even in there. She knows that we are out here. If she needs us she will give us a sign."

Murphy relaxed a little, his fists unclenching slightly as he stared intently at the penthouse windows. She would eventually give us a sign. But all that would do was make us wish we had charged in earlier, when my brother had first suspected that there was something wrong. Of course we hadn't and that was a big mistake.


	9. Get out

Note: Chapter 9. I know almost nothing about Medicine, and what I do know is confined to my own condition(s). Therefore this chapter will not be medically correct.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

As we watched for some sign that Anna was alright I wondered if there was another way into the building. There must be, I reasoned. There must at least be a service entrance or something. I was just scanning the exterior of the building when I heard Murphy gasp.

"Anna!"

He screamed out her name even though there was no way that she could hear us. I followed my brother's gaze to the bedroom window and couldn't believe it. Instead of Anna, what I saw was the bloody smear she had left as she had leant up against the glass. Murphy went to move again but I stopped him.

"Not through the front. There has to be a back way."

I pulled him away from the front entrance and we searched for another way in.

_When Anna woke the second time she felt much better. She was still lying in the bathtub in the penthouse. But she couldn't hear any voices. She had to stop herself from trying to stand straight away. She didn't know whether she was alone or not. The last she had heard Lorenzo had been making plans to cover up her death and she had no idea how much time had passed between then and now._

_Starting slow Anna tried to move her fingers again. She had managed that before and although the effort made her ache she managed it again. Then she concentrated on her feet. Starting with her toes, then her ankles. Moving slowly over her entire body she got each of her muscles to work in turn. Satisfied that she could move as she wished, even if it caused an enormous amount of pain, she lay still for a moment to catch her breath. _

_That was when she heard the doorbell. If she was going to do anything it would have to be soon. She didn't know who was at the door but at some point Lorenzo would send someone to get rid of her body. As quietly as she could and ignoring the pounding headache it produced, Anna sat up slowly. She could hear voices as she moved, now that the front door had been opened._

_"What the hell is going on?"_

_Anna relaxed a little. It wasn't one of Lorenzo's thugs after all. She didn't know why one of her husband's girls was there, but Rachel wasn't much of a threat._

_"It's a long story. But I couldn't sit here alone. Besides I could use your help. I have never bleached my hair before."_

_Larena laughed nervously as she spoke and Anna forced herself not to join in. It was just too ridiculous. Here she was dead in the bathtub and the bitch was worried about her hair. Besides Anna had caught something else in her words. 'Alone'. Lorenzo wasn't there. That didn't surprise her. If something went wrong and her body was discovered he didn't want to be anywhere near her. He was probably out getting himself an iron-clad alibi, while his latext fling held down the fort. Larena really was an idiot if she didn't see how disposable she was to her lover. Over the years Anna had seen them come and go, Lorenzo's girls. The only difference between them and Larena was that she had actually lasted quite a while. Probably because he was still seeing Rachel and a handfull of others._

_They were walking away from her now and so Anna couldn't hear anymore of what they said. They had probably gone into the kitchen to start on Larena's hair so that she could pass for Anna at passport control. Closing her eyes the supposedly dead woman pulled herself to stand. She took a moment to steady herself before she looked down at the tub. There wasn't as much blood as she had expected, but it was smeared all over her and the porcelain. Anna looked down at herself. She was still wearing the leggings and tank top she had put on before her husband had surprised her. They were almost unrecognisable now though, as they were torn almost to shreds and saturated with blood. So much so that the blood was probably the only thing keeping the scraps of fabric against her body. Seeing the mirror across the room Anna shuffled towards it and peered at her reflection. Her unaturally blonde hair was stained red from the wounds to her head, and her face was puffy and bruised._

_"What did you let him do to you?"_

_She asked herself silently. She had to get out of there, she had to get out. As quietly as she could but moving stiffly Anna made her way into the bedroom. That was when she saw how dark it was outside and she had an idea. Murphy. If Murphy and his brother were outside they could help, he would know that something was wrong when she hadn't left a note. Stumbling slightly she made her way to the window. She could see the alley from where she stood and thought she could make out two silhouettes in the shadows. Anna leant heavily on the glass for a moment._

_"Murphy"_

_She whispered as she saw him stride out of the shadows. He was shouting something that she couldn't hear. But she thought it might have been her name. More determined than ever to get out of this Anna pushed herself away from the window as Connor pulled his brother around the back of the building. Good they would find the service entrance. At this time of night there wouldn't be many people around. And if Lorenzo had already organised for her body to be taken away, the security measures would have been cleared out so that there would be no record of her body being taken away._

_She shuffled away from the window. With every movement her legs loosened up although the pain increased. But she laughed as she approached the bed. It had been stripped down to the mattress, even the electric blanket was gone. And on top of it sat two suitcases and her fur coat laid out ready for Larena to use as her disguise. Why not, Anna thought. She had used it as a disguise her entire adult life. Ever since Lorenzo had first expressed an interest in her at 16. Once the laugh started she couldn't stop herself. She laughed louder, sounding manic even to her own ears, but she couldn't stop._

_Larena and Rachel must have heard her, because she heard them approach. The laughing however continued as if she had no control over it. The door creaked open and Larena's towel covered head peered around the doorframe. The look on her face didn't help Anna to gain her composure, so she just kept on laughing._

_"What the fuck!"_

_Larena exclaimed stepping into the room with a carving knife held tightly in her hand. Anna finally stopped laughing and looked at the woman in front of her. She was dressed in another pair of Anna's leggings and another tank top. A single lock of hair had escaped the towel and it looked as if the two had made quick work of dying her hair, either that or her protracted effort to get out of the tub had taken longer than she thought it had. Either way it didn't matter. She had taken the woman by surprise and that was to her advantage._

_"What's the matter Larena? Didn't you know I was here?"_

_The other woman stood still for a moment before she charged forward with the knife raised. Anna however had been expecting just that and she struggled with her. Luckily for Anna, Lorenzo had a type when it came to women, waif thin and delicate looking. But Anna had the advantage, despite her injured condition. She had been putting up with Lorenzo's beatings since she was 18 years old and that had given her an inner strength and stamina. Her whole body hurt, but pain she could deal with. As long as she didn't pass out again she knew that she could best her. As Larena tried to wrestle the knife around to Anna's chest the injured woman saw her chance. If she distracted her enough maybe she could get the knife away from her._

_"What did you think was going to happen Larena, what did he promise you?"_

_She didn't get an answer, but she hadn't expected one._

_"Did you think you were going to take my place?"_

_That was when she managed it, Anna managed to twist the knife enough to push it into Larena's own chest._

_"I'm doing you a favour. "_

_She said as she pulled the dying woman into the bathroom._

_"Maybe you would have replaced me. But eventually you would have ended up just like me."_

_As she pushed the ex-maid into the currently vacant bathtub Anna heard Rachel by the door stifling a scream. Suddenly exhausted Anna leant against the sink, the knife still in her hand incase the other woman tried anything, but she didn't think she would. Rachel was harmless, yes she was one of the bimbos who hung off of Lorenzo's arm, but she had been content with that and Anna knew she wouldn't hurt a fly. Anna actually liked Rachel. Even though she had been sleeping with Lorenzo, probably still was, but she had always been nice to Anna. Suddenly Anna remembered the plan Lorenzo and Larena had made and she had an idea._

_"Rachel? Look at me."_

_The girl looked at her and Anna was suddenly very glad that her husband had a type. This might actually work._

_"Did Larena tell you what she was going to do?"_

_She asked trying her hardest to remain calm and coherent so that Rachel would listen to her. It had worked because Rachel was nodding._

_"Good, that's what we are going to do. You take her place, go to Europe, pretend to be me. And then find a way to disappear, alright?"_

_Hope shone in Rachel's eyes and she nodded eagerly. Anna closed her eyes in exhaustion as she heard Rachel routing around in the bedroom, but she was back quickly._

_"Anna?"_

_She asked quietly, as if she was scared she would get an answer. Anna opened her eyes and looked at the woman who was now close enough to her double for the plan to work, she smiled._

_"Yes Rachel?"_

_Anna sighed seeing the fear on the other girls face._

_"Did Lorenzo really kill you?"_

_That broke the calm and suddenly she was laughing again. But she managed to control it enough to reply to the question._

_"Yeah Rach, he did. But he doesn't control me anymore. Make sure he doesn't contol you."_

_Then Rachel was gone. Anna heard her manouver the suitcases from the bed and she was out of the front door and away while Anna was still laughing hysterically leaning against the sink. It wasn't long after she heard the door close behind Rachel that it banged open again._

_"Anna!"_

_She breathed out another laugh, but by the time they found her it had turned into strangled sobs as she cried and the knife clattered to the floor._

When we pushed open the door we could hear laughter and knew that it was Anna. It was a horrible sound, nothing like the carefree laugh that we were used to hearing from her mouth. It was a manic and hysterical laugh. The sound of someone broken by everything that they had been through. We rushed towards the sound dreading what we might find when we got there. Murphy was ahead of me and reached her first. The knife clattered to the floor drawing my attention while my brother took Anna into his arms, not caring about the blood that covered him from the contact. I glanced around the room briefly, noticing the dead maid in the tub.

"We need to get out of here."

I said gesturing towards the door. Let Lorenzo deal with the dead woman in his bathtub. Our priority was Anna. Murphy nodded and turned back to her, making sure to catch her eye.

"Anna sweetheart, look at me. We need to go alright. We need to get you patched up. Anna, Grace, can you hear me?"

When she nodded, gripping tighter to his jacket, Murphy picked her up and we headed for the door. We didn't get very far however before she stopped us. We were in the living room beside the bedroom door when she asked us to stop.

"Wait! Wait! I need to find it."

She pushed at Murphy's arm until he let her down as she crawled around the broken husk of what had once been a coffee table, before triumphantly holding up a piece of paper. Murphy smiled saddly then and went to lift her again.

"Oh, Anna, Grasta. Is that..."

She just leant further against his chest nodding.

"Yes. Just take me away from here, please Murphy."

Then she was unconscious. And I watched my brother kiss the top of her blood covered head as it lay on his shoulder. We were taking her away from this place, for good this time. And for once I didn't care if we were making a big mistake or not.


	10. The Secret

Note: Chapter 10. I don't know why I am writing this story so fast but I refuse to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

Once we were outside I realised just how screwed we were. We had to get Anna to safety and we had to do it quickly, but we didn't have any transport. And we couldn't exactly take her to the hospital anyway, not like this. The only safe place to take her at the moment was our apartment and that was all the way on the south-side. The problem was that I could think of only one person with a car at that moment who would help us.

"Shit! We're gonna have to call Rocco!"

I exclaimed as we stepped out onto the street. I noticed Murphy holding her a little tighter as he went through our options in his mind. I could see it on his face, when he came to the same conclusion that I had. He simply nodded before looking down at Anna to make sure she was alright. I indicated the park near the house with my head and Murphy nodded again.

As we walked I took the phone out of my pocket and dialed Rocco's number. There was nothing that we could do to protect him or his sister from Lorenzo anymore. All that mattered was getting Anna fixed up, and it was about time that Rocco learned his sister's secret. My heart was pounding as I waited for him to pick up. It was the middle of the night, but I knew his phone would be on.

"Hello?"

He sounded groggy and half asleep, but he was there.

"Rocco! Rocco you need to listen to me. You need to get in your car and drive around to the park across from your sister's place alright?"

I didn't want to scare him too much, but some of my anxiety must have come through in my voice, because he was suddenly wide awake.

"What? What the fuck is going on Connor? Is Anna alright?"

I didn't know what to say to that, but I had to say something. I didn't want him panicking and calling Lorenzo to find out what was going on.

"Rocco. You need to stay calm. Your sister is alright, but she is hurt. We don't have the whole story, but we need to take her somewhere we can patch her up. So please just get in the car and meet us. We can talk about it when you get here, or better yet Anna can explain it to you."

I could hear him moving around on the other end of the phone probably putting some clothes on and grabbing his keys. He must have read something into my words because he stopped silent for a moment.

"Why do you have to take her away from her place? Did that bastard do something to her?"

I tried to keep myself calm as he leapt to exactly the right conclusion. I had to keep calm because we needed Rocco to stay calm so that he could help his sister.

"Please Rocco, just get here as quickly as you can. Anna needs your help."

I heard him rushing out of the door. And then the line disconnected. Sighing I stepped into the shadows with my brother and looked down at Anna in his arms.

"So do you want to tell me what that was all about?"

I asked, indicating the scrap of paper she still held with an iron grip, even though she had passed out. I looked from it to Murphy's face noticing that he couldn't look me in the eye. I knew that he had done something stupid, and I had my suspicions of what it could be, but I wanted him to tell me. I had heard the endearments he had used when he spoke to Anna and I felt the change from the last time we had seen her. The name Grace pointed to the fact that they had been exchanging notes. It was the literal translation of her name. As did Grasta, the same translated into Gaelic. And the piece of paper seemed to confirm that, even though I couldn't see what it said, the shape of the words was as familiar to me as breathing.

"What did you do?"

I asked quietly, and I saw the sad look cross his face before he opened his mouth and told me all about it. As we waited there in the dark for Rocco to pick us up, he told me it all. About the notes, their emotional affair, everything. But I couldn't bring myself to chastise him. The guilt on his face told me how much he was already suffering and I didn't want to add to that.

When the familiar car approached I stepped out of the shadows and waited for Rocco to pull up beside me.

"Where is she? Where is she? Is she alright?"

Murphy stepped out of the shadows as Rocco got out of the car.

"She's here Rocco. She's unconscious at the minuet. Open the door will you."

Rocco jumped to open the door. He tried to take his sister from Murphy, but my brother wouldn't let him. Instead Murphy got into the car with Anna still in his arms. Rocco then tossed me the keys before climbing into the back after them. I would have protested, but we didn't really have time to argue so I got behind the wheel and put the car into drive.

Despite the urgency we all felt I forced myself to park where Rocco usually parked. It was a bit of a walk, but I didn't want anyone to come looking for Anna. When I got out of the car and opened the back door Rocco was muttering italian to his unconscious sister while Murphy stroked her matted hair. I didn't catch all of the words, but I did catch 'baby' 'sister' and 'please'.

"Come on. We are going to have to walk from here."

Murphy nodded silently, but then hesitated before passing Anna to her brother and getting out of the car. I knew that it was more about distracting Rocco from his anger than the thought of walking all that way, but I didn't say anything. From the look on Murphy's face it was one of the most difficult things he had ever had to do, passing her on to another man. Even if it was her brother.

Once we finally made it to the apartment Rocco put her carefully down onto one of the beds while I started collecting the first aid supplies. He was still muttering quietly to her as he put her down. It was only then that we really got to look at how injured she was and it took us all by surprise, but especially Rocco.

"What happened to her?"

He said it quieter than I had been expecting, but the anger was still there bubbling under the surface.

"We don't really know Roc."

I said, because really we didn't. We knew who was to blame, at least we had guessed. But we would have to wait to hear Anna's side of the story. But Murphy had run out of patience.

"Like fuck we don't!"

Now that Anna was safely away from that place, my brother didn't feel the need to keep himself calm. I attempted to calm him with a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged me away before kneeling down to wash some of her wounds, with the cloth he wrenched from me. He was still angry, I could see in rippling under his skin, but his voice was much softer with his concentration on the wounded woman.

"No Connor, it's time he learned the truth. I don't care what Anna says, that bastard almost killed her this time."

Rocco was quiet for a moment. So quiet that I edged towards the door intending to lock it so that he wouldn't do anything stupid. But when he finally spoke, again he took me by surprise with how quiet his voice was.

"What do you mean, 'This time'?"

He looked between us for a moment and I could see the cogs moving as he put it all together. But still I knew he wanted us to deny it. I couldn't stand the scrutiny for long closing my eyes against his searching gaze. Again it was Murphy that answered.

"She didn't want you to know. She didn't want you to get yourself hurt because of her."

Rocco couldn't stand it any more and moved away from his sister to pace out his agitation.

"How long... No wait I don't want to know... How long?"

That was one thing we didn't know. Anna had hinted at it, that it had started not long after the wedding, but we didn't know for sure.

"We don't know for sure."

I said, watching him carefully, for any change. I made sure to keep myself between him and the door, just in case.

"But you have some idea?"

He moved back to his sister's side, and just stood there, looking down at her sadly.

"Best guess we have is just after they were married."

That was the moment that Rocco, Funny-Man David Della Rocco, crumbled. His legs collapsed and he was crying into his sister's shoulder. That was when it truly hit me how young they had both been when it had all started. There was only a year between them. Anna had been 16, and Rocco 17, when she had first met Lorenzo Yakavetta. Within a few months Rocco had a job for life. Moving up the ladder, not much, but enough to keep him close. And two years later, by the time that she was 18, Anna was married. She had made the biggest mistake of her life when she was practically only a child.


	11. What now

Note: Chapter 11 is here. I have been rewatching both films today much to my husbands annoyance.

Updated 10/4/14

**Big mistake**

Together we cleaned Anna up as much as possible while she was unconscious. Most of her wounds weren't very deep, but there were a lot of them. Some even looked as if they had had salt poured over them. None of us spoke as we worked, but the tension in the air was incredible. Eventually we got to the point when there was nothing more that we could do until she woke up. We didn't want to chance the shower while she was unconscious.

I stood to get a couple of beers out of the fridge, feeling that we needed something. Really what we needed was whisky, but we didn't have any. That was how I missed the moment when Rocco spotted the piece of paper his sister still had glasped in her hand.

"What's this?"

He asked, again in the quiet and controlled voice, more curious that accusing but that was about to change. I spun around to see Murphy backing away quietly while Rocco tried to pry his sister's hand open.

"What. The. Fuck. Is. This?"

He repeated, and he must have managed to get it from her, because he now had the paper in his hand. He glanced at it for a moment, his mouth moving as he read it over. Then he stood stock still, obviously figuring out where it had come from.

"Roc?"

Murphy asked cautiously, wondering where our friend was going with this. Unfortunately his voice confirmed Rocco's suspicions about the note.

"Was this you?"

My brother took another step back as Rocco took a step forward.

"Did you do this? Is this what set him off? Did you do this?"

He got louder and more demanding as he spoke, getting ever closer to Murphy who couldn't back away anymore without climbing out of the window, which probably crossed his mind.

"I..."

I had never seen him speechless before, but it seemed my brother couldn't find the words. And I knew why. Rocco had just voiced Murphy's innermost fears, fears that he was responsible for what Lorenzo had done to Anna. That he was to blame.

"David?"

The voice was quiet but it drew us all back to the woman on the bed.

"David, was that you yelling?"

Within a moment he was by her side, all gentle and caring again.

"I'm here Anna, I'm here Sorellina."

She seamed a little groggy, but at least she was awake.

"Don't yell at Murphy. It's not his fault."

I smiled as all of Rocco's anger seamed to disappear with a single word from his sister. They really needed to talk, but I knew they couldn't really do that with us here.

"Why don't Murph and I go and see if we can rustle up some clothes while you have a shower?"

Murphy looked as if he was going to argue, but Anna stopped him.

"Murphy?"

My brother knelt on her other side taking one of her hands in his.

"I'm here Grace."

She smiled softly at the name, before she continued talking.

"Thank you for coming to get me laoch."

Murphy smiled back at her before kissing her bruised hand.

"Always."

I watched Rocco's face throughout their conversation, he seemed to be as confused as I was by how close they had become without actually seeing each other.

"Go with Connor. I need to speak to my brother. There's some stuff I need to tell him."

Murphy nodded again, kissing her hand one last time before placing it gently back on the bed. Then he stood and pointed an accusing finger at her.

"Alright, but I want to know what happened today when I get back."

She nodded somberly, and we left them to it.

As we walked through the streets I realised how stupid my plan had been. It was the middle of the night, and there was nowhere we could get clothes for Anna. Eventually we ended up at McGinties. Doc was the only other person we thought we could trust with this. We weren't surprised to hear that he didn't have anything for her to wear besides an old dress that had once belonged to his wife. It would be far to big. But he said that he would be able to arrange something in the morning. So we left with the dress and headed home.

By the time we got back Anna was wrapped up in Rocco's long coat after her shower, and her brother was sitting beside her with a beer in his hand. Her hair was still matted, but she looked better.

"I'm afraid this is all we could get. But if we swing by McGinties in the morning Doc should have something."

I said passing her the dress. She smiled, even though I could say that it pained her.

"Thank you."

She said. Murphy sat across from her on the other bed and I sat beside him.

"Anna explained everything to me, well nearly everything. But she said she didn't want to through what happened today twice."

So the three of us sat listening to everything that had happened since the last time that we had seen her. It wasn't a long story, as she was blissfully vague over the details of what her husband had actually done to her. Most of what she told us we had already guessed. But I saw the wave of guilt wash over Murphy again when Anna described being forced to read his note aloud. Anna noticed as well because she stopped for a moment in her tale to take his hand before continuing, only stopping her tale where we had found her in the bathroom. Exhausted she changed into the dress we brought while we spoke to Rocco out on the fire escape.

"What the fuck do we do now?"

Rocco asked, clearly trying to process everything that he had learned in the last few hours. I sighed heavily because it always seemed to be me that had to come up with a plan.

"I don't know. If Anna's plan works, we shouldn't need to worry about Lorenzo looking for her. She can't stay here indefinitely, there isn't enough room and she will need space and privacy to heal up. But she can't stay with you Rocco, you are too close to the Yakavetta's, and we can't chance her husband finding out she is still alive. Maybe we can ask Doc tomorrow if he knows of anywhere. She can stay here until she is healed up enough to move."

Rocco nodded. He looked as exhausted as I felt. Murphy handed us both a cigarette before lighting his own. He had been strangely quiet ever since we had come out here and I could see his brain was working overtime. Finally he spoke.

"What do we do about Lorenzo?"

He asked, trying to keep his voice level, but he was furious.

"We can't do anything Murph. If he finds out she is alive he is going to come after her. And there is no way we would even be able to get close enough to him to even put a dent in his armour."

I stood there with my brother and my best friend willing them both to let go of their anger, at least for the moment. Because I knew that going after Lorenzo, especially with no fire power, no plan and full of anger would be a really big mistake, and one I'm sure Anna wouldn't let us make. She had endured a lot to keep her husband away from us, and I for one wouldn't take that away from her.


	12. Bad Patient

Note: Chapter 12 is finished. I have been writing this so fast I havn't really had time to read it over. That is what I have done now with chapters 6-11.

**Big mistake**

By the time we came back inside, Anna was asleep. Actually asleep, a healing sleep rather then the unconsciousness that had claimed her before. There wasn't much time before sunrise, and there wasn't much room, but we all needed to get a little sleep so we made the best of it.

_When Anna woke she was a little disorientated but that didn't last long. She recognised Connor asleep in the bed across from her. Then she turned her head and spotted Murphy asleep in a chair near-by. Briefly she wondered why he had done that when there was a perfectly good sofa by the door. Then she remembered that David had been there the last time she had woken up. Sitting up slowly she wondered where he could be._

_"Hey squirt. Not sure you should be up and about just yet."_

_Anna turned to see her brother leaning against the entrance to the fire escape. She laughed softly._

_"Come on, give me a hand up Asshole."_

_He laughed, but she could see that he was barely holding it together. Never the less he lifted her up into his arms._

_"Now, where to Sorellina?"_

_Anna smiled. That was twice now that he had used that name. He must be scared because he hadn't called her that since they were kids._

_"I just want a smoke."_

_Nodding he carried her back onto the fire escape with him before setting her down carefully onto one of the barrels. Then he took two cigarettes out of the packet, lighting them before he passed her one. The sat smoking side by side for a moment, before either of them spoke._

_"You know when you first met Lorenzo, I thought great. I mean here was this guy, a member of the most powerful family in the city, and he's obsessed with my little sister. I thought I wouldn't need to look after you anymore. I mean who could protect you better than he could, right? I just... It didn't even cross my mind that he was the one I needed to protect you from in the first place."_

_Anna watched the smoke leaving her mouth as she exhaled._

_"It's not your fault David. I'm the one who married the bastard."_

_She knew that it would take a lot more than her words for him to get over this, but she didn't know what else to do. Flicking the cigarette away he turned to look at her for a moment. Reaching over he tried to run his fingers through her hair, but he couldn't. _

_"We really got to do something about this."_

_She shrugged stubbing her own cigarette out on the bannister._

_"I'll have to cut it short I guess. It will be easier to get the blood out, and it will make me harder to recognise me as well."_

_No matter whether Lorenzo thought her dead or not she would have to be extra careful. It would probably be better if she left town, but she couldn't bring herself to do that. Besides if she left David would insist on going with her, now more than ever. And that would look suspicious. If it even looked as if he was pulling away from the business there would be trouble. Not only could it give away the fact that she was alive, but he knew too much about the Yakavetta's for them to let him walk away. But right now, he was still looking at her hair._

_"Suppose so. I never liked the blonde anyway, it didn't suit you."_

_She smiled at that, but she was exhausted._

_"David? I think I'm ready to go back to sleep now."_

_Laughing properly this time he lifted her into his arms and carried her back to bed. By the time he put her down on the mattress, she was already asleep._

When I woke up it was to the smell of coffee. I opened my eyes to see that the bed across from me was empty. Turning my head I saw Anna standing by the stove with Murphy by her side. It looked as if he was trying to get her to sit down, and she kept flapping him away and scowling at him. But then she would have a twinge of pain and he would go right back to trying to help her sit down.

I soon figured out where the smell of coffee was coming from. There was a steaming mug on the side table so I picked it up with both hands, taking a sip before looking around again. That was when I noticed that Rocco was gone.

"Where's Roc?"

I asked, alerting the other two in the room to the fact that I was awake.

"Told you it would work."

I heard Murphy proclaiming proudly to the woman beside him before turning back to me.

"He had to go to work. He protested like a bitch, but Anna was having none of it."

He was laughing, but I could tell that Anna's stubbornness was already driving him crazy. It shouldn't have been such a surprise really, considering. She had survived her entire adult life with a man who beat her and still managed to get out of bed everyday. She had been living with almost constant pain for a long time and still managed to convince the world that she was perfectly fine. She wasn't going to take this lying down now that she was finally out of there.

"Good. Anything out of the ordinary would be suspicious."

Anna's smile was a little crooked because her face had started to swell even more overnight, but I could see it anyway.

"That's what I said. Bacon or sausage with your eggs?"

It was only then that I saw the frying pan in her hand and the three plates lined up on the counter. I didn't even know that we had that many plates.

"Sausage thanks."

I said, standing to give her a hand. But all that achieved was that now she had two pairs of hands to bat away so I sat at our rickety old table and watched her plate up while I finished my coffee. It was a little sereal seeing her standing there in our kitchen. Well sort of standing. Every time she wobbled on her stiff legs, Murphy would put out an arm to steady her. But it never lasted long. After a moment or two she would swat him away again. She was wearing the dress that Doc had given us, and it was far too big for her. Her hair was still matted, but she had tied it behind her head with a scrap of tattered fabric that looked suspiciously like a piece of her torn and bloody clothes from the night before.

It seemed like a lifetime to both me and my brother, but in reality it was only a few minutes before we were all sitting eating the breakfast that Anna had cooked. As soon as she finished eating we could see that she was exhausted. This time when Murphy moved to help her she didn't push him away, leaning into him instead as he helped her over to the bed. Within moments she was asleep, but Murphy didn't move from her side. Rescuing Anna hadn't been a big mistake, but it looked like she was going to be a difficult patient.


	13. Hair

Note: Chapter 13 is here. I'm not sure where chapter 12 came from, but I couldn't get it out of my head.

**Big mistake**

After I had cleared the dishes away I left my brother to watch Anna sleep while I went to see Doc. We had some time before we had to be at work that day but a lot to do in such a short time. When I arrived he was waiting for me, obviously having been up since the crack of dawn.

"I g-g-got what I could."

I had no idea how he managed it, but sitting waiting for me was a pile of clothes and other odds and ends to take back with me. That man never ceased to amaze me, especially when we had told him practically nothing the night before

"How the fuck do you do it?"

_Anna didn't sleep for very long before she woke up again. She was exhausted but she was also in a lot of pain, besides her hair was driving her crazy._

_"How are you feeling?"_

_She groaned instead of replying to Murphy's question, cracking an eye open to see him sitting across from her once again._

_"Do you want some pain killers?"_

_Again Anna didn't think she was up to answering, so she nodded. But that sent her head into a spin making her groan again. She didn't usually take pain medication, because that would somehow prove that Lorenzo had got to her, like when she flinched when he hit her. But that didn't matter anymore, so when Murphy handed her the pills with one hand and a glass of water with the other, she took them willingly. She hated being seen like this, hated anyone knowing how weak she was. But she couldn't hide it._

_"Do you have scissors?"_

_She asked finally when the spinning in her head calmed down a little. The man across from her looked confused, but nodded standing to retrieve them. He was being strangely quiet and watching her closely, but the extra scrutiny didn't bother Anna as much as she thought it would. Taking the scissors gratefully, she tried to stand, but couldn't move very well. Noticing her discomfort Murphy stood and put an arm around her waist to help her stand._

Together Doc and packed a few of the items into a box, not all of them because the old man had a plan. As it turned out he had been expecting something like this ever since Anna had come to the bar alone that day months ago. He had seen what the problem was and immediately sent her to our apartment. Ever since then he had been watching us all closely, especially Anna. And he had made plans. He had hoped that eventually we would get her out and knew exactly where he could get everything we needed at short notice. As I packed the baggy jeans and long polo necks into the box I wondered again at how well this man could read my brother and me. I didn't even need to ask him if he knew of anywhere for her to stay, because he had that sorted as well.

"I've got a spare room over t-t-the bar. Fuck. That way she'll be close by, but she'll h-h-have her own space."

That's why we were only packing a hand full of supplies. The rest could stay for now. It made sense for her to come here. We trusted Doc, so did Rocco, and better yet so did Anna. The four of us had been coming to McGinties together for the better part of a year. It was a place that she knew and felt comfortable with, and it was a place that her husband didn't know.

_Anna sat on a chair in the middle of the shower area with a mirror propped on another chair in front of her. She had explained to Murphy what she wanted to do and he had manouvered the furniture for her. Now she was just sitting for a moment looking at her reflection trying to get up the courage to make the first cut. Murphy was sitting on the sofa watching her with his chin resting in his hands. He had offered to do it for her, but she knew this was something that she had to do herself. Carefully she lifted the first of the matted locks, noting that the closer she got to her head the easier it was to distinguish the seperate strands. Holding the hair away from her head she brought the scissors up and cut about two inches from her scalp._

By the time that I got back home with the supplies Anna was asleep again and Murphy was sweeping up the discarded hair from the bottom of the shower. I didn't ask what had happened. I could see Anna's head lying on the pillow, her hair drastically shorter than it had been when I left.

_By the time that Anna next woke up she was alone. She knew that before she even opened her eyes. When she did finally pry her eyelids open she saw the box sitting on the other bed with a piece of paper folded on top of it. Slowly Anna sat up feeling the familiar ache throughout her entire body, albeit more intense than she was used to. Sitting now with her feet on the floor facing the box, Anna leant forward to pick up the note, smiling when she recognised the writing. Opening the paper carefully she scanned over the words, glad that this time they were in English as she had no way to translate them now._

_**Grace, Hopefully you are feeling better. If not the contents of this box should help. Connor picked it up this morning from McGinties. I didn't want to leave you, but as you said this morning it is essential that we all keep to our usual routine. Unfortunately we had to leave to go to work, but we will be home in a few hours. There are more painkillers on the sidetable if you need them. I cannot wait to get back. Love always - Sea warrior. **_

_Anna sighed happily as she opened the box to find not only clothes, but a large fluffy towel, shampoo and other toiletries. She would have to thank Doc the next time she saw him. He hardly knew her, and yet he had already helped her so much. Determined to make good use of the time she had, Anna shuffled towards the shower. She would feel much better once she hsd washed her hair properly and gotten into clean clothes. She had noticed gratefully, that all of the clothes in the box were not only her size but where also baggy and covered most of her body. There was nothing that she could do about the bruises on her face, but the rest. There was even a pair of thin woollen gloves._

_As the water cascaded over Anna's head and down her back, she thought back over the last couple of days. As she lathered the shampoo through her now short hair, she felt like she was trying to wash Lorenzo out of her life, rather than wash the blood and grime out of her hair. She knew it wouldn't be that easy, she couldn't wash away a decade and a half of marriage and everything that had gone with it. Besides it was not as if Lorenzo was dead. She had to be very careful to make sure that her husband never found out that she was alive. She just hoped that she wasn't putting the people she knew in danger by being alive. That would be a big mistake._


	14. Self image

Note: Chapter 14 and we still aren't up to the start of the movie. I just can't stop writing this.

**Big mistake**

Work dragged on that day, but I knew as much as I wanted to get back home I knew it must be worse for Murphy. But that thought lead on to another. I hadn't spoken to my brother yet about what Doc and I had discussed that morning. The room was ready for whenever Anna felt up to moving, but I didn't know how to bring it up with Murphy. After what we had found when we rescued Anna the night before, it had been difficult enough for him to let go of her at all, let alone let her leave our apartment. I knew that she wouldn't be ready to leave for at least a couple of weeks, but I needed to talk to him about it before we discussed it with Anna herself.

"What's on your mind Con?"

We were outside having a cigarette on our break when he asked me. Obviously he had see my agitation as clearly as I could see his. I took a deep breath trying to organise my thoughts before I said anything.

"I was speaking to Doc this morning."

I tried to sound as casual as possible, but it was difficult because we could read each other so well.

"Aye"

He had tensed slightly beside me, but let me continue.

"And he had a suggestion. Anna can't stay with us forever, and he has a spare room over the bar. That way she wouldn't be very far but she could have her own space."

We were both silent for a moment and I had to look over at my brother to make sure that he had heard what I had said. He had, but he surprised me with what he said next.

"That's a good idea."

He turned away from me flicking his cigarette away. Then he was gone and I was left on my own.

_Anna stood for a moment in the large towel just letting the moments pass, before shuffling back over to the box. Slowly due to the stiffness in her limbs Anna got dressed. It felt a little odd at first, dressing in something different after all of these years. But it felt good as well. She had never actually liked the way she dressed before, only doing it because it was what her husband wanted. That had never really been her. The clothes, the jewellery, the hair, had all just been a disguise. But standing in front of the mirror at that moment she barely recognised herself. If it hadn't been for the bruises she wouldn't have. That left her thinking something truly terrifying, because now that she finally had a chance to be herself, she didn't know who that was anymore._

When we got back home, Murphy still hadn't said anything and I had to pull him aside before we went inside.

"What the fuck Murph?"

I asked stopping him with an arm on his shoulder. He sighed heavily before turning to face me, and I could see that he was really struggling.

"To be honest Connor, I have no idea what I'm doing. I mean what the fuck am I supposed to do now? I don't want to go, in fact I don't want to ever let her out of my sight ever again. But I know she can't stay here. She's been dependant on that asshole ever since she was a teenager, and now all she has is us and our shit-hole of an apartment. I want to give her space to heal, and to get used everything. But I don't know if I'm ready for that."

There wasn't much that I could say in response to his confession, but I had to say something.

"I'm not suggesting we pack up her stuff tonight. But we have to give her options. Let's just talk to her about it. Make it clear that she can stay as long as she wants, but also let her know that she can have her own space as well."

When we got back upstairs we found Anna awake and dressed, looking at herself in the mirror. I had a feeling that she had been there a while, because she was sitting on a chair she had dragged across the room, and she was leaning forward slightly peering at herself.

"Grasta sweetheart, are you alright?"

Deciding that I should probably leave them to it, I walked back out the door to call Rocco and see when he thought he would be back.

_Anna heard the door open but she couldn't look away from the reflective surface. She didn't know whether it was the baggy clothes, or the short hair, or the bruises that covered the flesh she could still see. But she was really having trouble coming to terms with what she was seeing._

_"Grasta sweetheart, are you alright?"_

_As Murphy knelt down beside her Anna dragged her eyes away from the glass. He was looking at her so concerned and confused that she had to say something. Even when she wasn't really sure herself what was going on._

_"Is this me?"_

_She asked indicating the mirror with one hand while Murphy held the other. The confusion cleared from his face but the concern remained._

_"You can be whoever you want to be now Anna. But the most important thing is to get you healed up."_

_Anna turned back to the mirror for a moment to look at her reflection once again. That was the problem she supposed. She could be anyone she wanted to be, she was starting her life over again. But she had no idea what to do with that. Murphy must have noticed that it was all a bit much for her. She had only just left her husbands house after he had nearly killed her, and suddenly her whole life was changing._

_"Hey, you don't need to do anything about it right now. It's all going to take some getting used to."_

_She nodded. He had given her something to think about. Whatever or whoever she decided to be, it was entirely up to her. One thing she knew, and that was that she wasn't going to make the same mistake twice. She had rushed into her marriage with Lorenzo without knowing very much about him and that was a big mistake._


	15. Books

Note: Chapter 15 is complete.

**Big mistake**

After that first night, Anna forced her brother to sleep at home. Obviously Rocco didn't take to that very well, he didn't like to be away from her for any length of time. But she was insistent about it. There wasn't much space in our apartment, and she was more than a little paranoid about Donna. Donna was Rocco's girlfriend, and Anna it seemed had never liked her. It was likely that she wouldn't even notice that he was gone, but Anna refused to take any chances. Rocco listened to her of course, but he still spent every spare moment he had with her.

It had been over a week since we had taken Anna away from her old life and the four of us had started to get into a routine. Every day we woke up to Anna dressed in sweats and in front of the stove. We had tried to explain to her that she didn't need to make us breakfast, but she refused to listen. Anna had been a house wife for fifteen years and had discovered that she actually enjoyed cooking. After breakfast Anna would go back to sleep for a while and we would get ready for work. While we worked she would shower and change her bandages, then she would either sleep some more or read one of the books her brother had brought round.

As it turned out there wasn't much in the penthouse that had actually belonged to Anna. When their parents had died she hadn't taken anything from the old house, but Rocco had. The boxes of Anna's stuff had ended up in his apartment. So on his way out of the door to come and visit her after his first night spent at home he had picked up a pile of books that had once been hers.

_When Anna saw the books her brother produced from the bag he was carrying, her face lit up instantly with childish enthusiasm._

_"Oh David, you didn't?"_

_She asked, clearing the table so that he could put them down._

_"You bet I did. I don't want this shit cluttering up my place anymore."_

_She smiled at his attempt at a joke running her hands over the books lightly. Meanwhile Rocco turned to the MacManus brothers in an attempt to explain the confusing moment._

_"Anna is such a Geek. I swear everyday when we got home from school she would have her nose in another fucking book."_

_She stuck her tongue out at him then, but winced in pain because her jaw was still very swollen. Then she said something that noone expected._

_"You're going to have to call Lorenzo at the house David."_

_The smile on Rocco's face slid away quickly and he turned away._

_"I'm not calling that fucking Bastard."_

_Knowing that the other siblings were about to have an argument, Conner and Murphy MacManus crept out of the room._

_"David..."_

_She started, but he didn't let her finish._

_"No Anna, no! I can't speak to that Fucker! Why would you even want me to?!"_

_Anna sighed shifting so that she could stand up before trying again._

_"David. If Connor hadn't called you. Or if they hadn't found me. What would you have done then."_

_She watched her brother carefully, he was pacing back and forward now._

_"If they hadn't found you, you would be Fucking dead!"_

_He shouted, louder than she would have liked, but she couldn't blame him for that. Anna however, forced herself to remain calm._

_"Yes, but you wouldn't know that."_

_Rocco stopped and looked at her curiously. Seeing that she had his attention Anna went on."_

_"As far as Lorenzo is concerned. We haven't spoken in about a week. If everything was normal I would be due to call you sometime today. Now if I didn't do that, what would you usually do."_

_David Della Rocco sighed heavily understanding what his sister wanted him to do._

_"I would call the penthouse to make sure that you were alright."_

_Anna smiled gratefully at him. Not only would that call ensure that everything appeared as normal. They might eve be able to judge whether her plan had worked, and Lorezo truly believed that she was dead._

_"Thank you David. Just try and be civil with him. Remember you know nothing about what happened."_

_Laughing he pulled her into a hug._

_"I know Sorellina. I know, I'll try and play nice."_

The dreaded phone call happened the day after that. But as much as Anna trusted her brother, she knew that he wouldn't be able to keep calm for long if he had made the call alone. So she asked me to go with him, just incase. While my brother stayed with Anna.

_Anna tried to ignore the fact that Murphy was staring at her while she read her book. It had been one of her favorites before marrying Lorenz and now she was attempting to use it as a distraction. She tried not to think about David on the phone to her husband, but it was impossible. Sighing she put the book down on the floor beside the bed she was sitting on and looked at the man across from her._

_"It's going to be alright."_

_He said and she sighed again. She could argue with him, but it wouldn't do either of them any good. They both knew what could go wrong. They just had to keep it together, to distract each other. Unfortunately there was only one topic of conversation that sprang to Murphy's mind. In fact he hadn't been able to stop thinking about it ever since Connor had brought it up. That was why he had been staring at Anna while she sat with her book._

_"Anna, there is something that we need to talk about."_

_Even through her bruises he could see her brow furrow._

_"What is it Murph?"_

_She leant forward slightly with her elbows on her knees, and although Murphy was itching to do the same, he didn't. That would put them too close together, there heads inches apart. So reluctantly he stayed where he was._

_"Connor was talking to Doc the other day. And there's no pressure. You can stay here as long as you like, but you don't need to feel like you have to..."_

_He stopped when she took his hand from his lap._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_Taking another deep breath, Murphy did his best to continue before he lost his nerve._

_"Doc has a spare room at the bar and he says you can stay there if you want. There is more space and you would have more privacy..."_

_He stopped again when he felt Anna squeeze his hand._

_"Thank you."_

_She said and Murphy stopped breathing. He wasn't ready for her to go yet, but if she wanted to he wouldn't stop her._

_"Thank you. But I'm not ready yet. Can I stay for a bit longer?"_

_He smiled, glad that the inevitable had been put off for a little longer._

_"Of course you can."_

Unfortunately for my brother it couldn't be put off forever. Anna was getting stronger by the day and she was sleeping far less. It had only been a week and a half, but she was healing quickly. She still had some trouble walking as her limbs were stiff. But she seemed much better and I knew it was only a matter of time. She needed her space to heal. Murphy however seemed to be living under the impression that she would be with us forever. And that was a big mistake.


	16. Space

Note: Chapter 16. Feels like I have been writing this story for a lot longer than a week and a half! Also I forgot to say it before, but Thank you to the guest who reviewed on chapter 6. It made me laugh harder than it should have. :D

Also if I go a bit weird today, sorry. Usually I put whatever fandom I am writing on as background noise. But as I am going to a pixar quiz tonight I have been watching pixar movies. It is a little sereal watching finding nemo and brave as one has William Dafoe and the other Billy Connelly. Its a good job we havn't gotten to Agent Smecker or Il Duce yet in this story.

**Big mistake**

Anna was waiting from us when we got home from work that day. I knew that there was something different. She looked nervous but resolved and I looked at Murphy to see if he had noticed it as well. The tension had been growing between them over the last few days. As Anna healed she spent less time sleeping, and she needed less help. That meant that both Rocco and my brother spent less of their time helping her. And although Anna and Murphy seemed as close as they had been before, I noticed that they didn't really touch. They would take each others hand occasionally. Every day when we left, if Anna was awake, he would take her hand and kiss it the same way he had done the first night that they had met. Except now she would blush with a small smile. And if she needed help as she walked Murphy would be by her side.

Apart from that though they hardly touched. At first I thought it was because my brother ws afraid to hurt her. But as she got better, as her bruises started to heal, nothing changed. They would look at each other for long periods of time, but it was as if there was a physical barrier between them. They were doing that now, and I knew there was something on Anna's mind.

"I'll just... I'm gonna go and have a smoke outside."

I was just turning to leave when Anna stopped me.

"No Connor, don't leave. I need to speak to you both actually."

I nodded staying where I was, while Murphy pulled his eyes away from her to look at his feet.

"I... I think it's time that I left. I'm much better now. I mean I don't need to be watched all the time, and I think we could all do with some space."

I let out a sigh of relief. It was a good sign, that she wanted to take Doc up on his offer. It proved that she was getting stronger, that she wanted her independence. But I knew that Murphy wouldn't be so happy about it. He was still looking down at the ground and hadn't said anything.

"Murphy?"

She stood up, still a little stiff but much better than she had been. My brother flinched at her pained groan as she moved, but he didn't look up.

"Laoch?"

He looked up then, but there was nothing that either one could say to the other. Murphy knew that this was the next step, that she needed some time alone to heal. And Anna knew that he didn't want to let her out of his sight after how close she had come to death. That was when I saw it, the reason they didn't touch. Murphy put his hand out to push the hair away from her face, and for a moment she leaned into the touch, but then she shuddered and pulled away.

_Anna opened her eyes when She felt the hand on her head. She didn't know why Lorenzo had stopped hitting her, but the touch was gentle as he moved the hair away from her face. But then pain shot through her scalp as he pulled her to stand by her hair. Not stopping he dragged her through to the bedroom._

"Anna! Anna! It's me, not him. Grasta, it's me."

That's why they never touched, why my brother kept his distance. Because ever since she was a teenager only one person had been able to get that close to her. And every little thing brought back memories of her husband. She was crying now arms wrapped around herself as sobs wracked through her body. I watched without a clue how I could help as slowly my brother approached her again. He was whispering to her in Gaelic as he pulled her to lean against him so that she could cry on his shoulder. As he moved so that his arms were around her he kept muttering softly. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but I knew that the words themselves didn't matter. She couldn't understand what he was saying, it was just a way of reminding her that it was Murphy, not Lorenzo that held her. Deciding that there was nothing thzt I could do I spoke softly to my brother.

"I'm going to go and speak to Doc. See how quickly he can have things ready."

He didn't say anything, but he nodded gratefully at me. So I left to get things organised. On the way I called Rocco and let him know what was going on. He said that he would put the boxes he had of her stuff into the car and meet me back at the apartment. In fact by the time I got back from the bar he was waiting for me outside, cigarette in hand.

I was a little surprised that Rocco had waited outside for me rather than head upstairs. But he didn't make me wait long to let me know why.

"Connor, can I talk to you?"

He was using that quiet and controlled voice that indicated he was worrying about his sister. I nodded expecting to reasure Rocco that his sister was well enough to move down the block. But I didn't expect what came next.

_Rocco stood out on the fire escape with a much needed cigarette while he digested everything he had learned. He felt so stupid. How could he not have seen what was going on, what his sister was going through? How could he have been so blind? He had helped his sister into the shower, had held her up and helped her wash away the remaining blood from herself. He had helped her to remove the tattered scraps that had once been her clothes and he had helped her to dry herself before wrapping her up in his jacket. Then once she had ripped a strip of fabric from what once had been a top, he had taken the old and bloody clothes to throw them out. That was it, that was when he had to escape, had to go out into the cold and calm down. Because what he had seen he would never be able to get rid of, would never be able to forget. If he ever saw that Bastard Lorenzo again, he knew that that image would be the one that would come to mind._

_When he had picked up the leggings at first he had barely noticed it, there were knife cuts all over and the whole thing was saturated with blood. It wasn't until he had noticed the corresponding cut in his baby sister's underwear that he noticed the cut in the crotch of her leggings. The slit was ripped further at the edges of both, and he didn't want to think about why. He hadn't asked, he had just thrown the expensive rags away and come out for a smoke. When Connor and Murphy got back she would tell them all what had happened that day, but now Rocco wasn't sure that he really wanted to know. He just had to force himself not to do anything stupid, that would be a big mistake. _


	17. On her own

Note: Chapter 17 is finally finished. And if anyone is interested we came 2nd in the quiz. Sorry it took me so long to update. I have been having real trouble with this chapter and kept coming up against a brick wall. I think it may be the little revelation I added at the end of the last chapter. I wasn't sure whether to add it to the story, but I already talked myself out of a similar situation in an LotR fic of mine and I couldn't get the idea out of my head this time.

**Big mistake**

That night we moved Anna into Doc's spare room. I didn't say anything to Murphy about what Rocco had said to me. I would have to tell him eventually, but I knew better than to bring it up while we were moving her out. He was having enough trouble letting her leave as it was. So I kept the new information to myself.

It didn't take us long to move Anna's few belongings into the small room as even with the boxes her brother had been keeping for her she did not have many possessions. Once she was settled in Doc brought each of us a beer as we sat in silence. We all knew that this was a big step for her, but none of us wanted to draw attention to that fact. So together the five of us finished our drinks and then one by one we bid Anna goodnight and left her to get some sleep in her new home.

_Anna sat silently for a moment just looking around at her few things. It was strange being in this small space surrounded by things that belonged to her. Sighing she sat up slowly and shuffled over to the box of things she had brought from the MacManus brother's apartment. She was still in a lot of pain and that day she had moved around far more than she had been so far, but it was worth it. She felt such freedom glancing around at her surroundings. Ok, she wasn't on her own. Doc was just down the hall, but he had made it very clear that this room was hers. Noone would come in here if she didn't want them to, Doc included, and it was his house. She hadn't had that since she was a child. Pulling the sweats and t-shirt she had been using as sleepware out of the box, Anna began to change._

When we got back home I wasn't surprised to see Murphy move over to the fridge to get another beer without even taking his coat off. He had already opened and drained the bottle before I had even turned around. He was glaring at the empty bed, his bed as he slammed the bottle down on the kitchen counter. I sighed.

"She'll be grand Murph. It's about time she had her own space you know."

He nodded back at me but he was still agitated.

"Aye."

I watched my brother take his phone out of his pocket and glare at the blank screen for a moment before putting it back. Leaving him to pace out his frustration I satdown on my own bed and changed. There was nothing I could do to make him feel better, so I didn't try. I just hoped he would be able to get some sleep. She was perfectly safe, and if she needed us we could be there within moments.

_Anna looked back down into the box and smiled slightly. There was a cheap mobile thrown in amongst her books. Pulling it out she looked over the contacts list. Murphy, Conner, David and Doc. Each of them entered into a speed dial slot in the phone's memory. Ensuring that it was fully charged she placed it carefully on the bedside table and climbed under the covers. She could do this, she could start her new life right here. Sinking gratefully into the soft mattress surrounded by the clean white sheets Anna fell asleep feeling safe and warm._

Murphy didn't sleep well that night, which was to be expected. He kept waking up to check his phone lying by the bed. Of course everytime he moved I would wake up and grumble at him to go back to sleep, but it didn't make any difference. By the time that the two of us finally gave up on trying to sleep the sun was rising. Shuffling into my shoes I yawned my way through making coffee while my brother showered.

_Anna snapped awake panic and adrenaline coursing through her system. Her eyes darted about the room as she tried to remind herself of where she was, that it had been a dream. Just a dream. But she could still hear him in her mind, could still feel him holding her down._

_**The sharp tug on her hair made Anna cry out in pain as he pulled her to stand and dragged her through to the bedroom. Her eyes were clamped shut from the pain, but she opened them as he forced her down onto the bed. As soon as her back hit the mattress he slapped her again and left the room. Anna didn't move although he hadn't restrained her. He didn't need to. He wouldn't be gone long, and where would she even go. He was faster than her, and much stronger. Even if she made it to the door it was locked and the key was in his pocket.**_

_**She tried her best to stay still as Lorenzo's silhouette appeared in the doorway again. He had a knife in one hand. It wasn't large, but the blade was serrated and not the sharpest that they had.**_

_**"You've really done it this time Anna. You see I have no choice. Sneaking around behind my back. You're going to learn your lesson this time you ungratefull whore."**_

_**With that he leapt onto the bed, straddling her tiny frame and holding her down by the shoulders, even though she hadn't tried to struggle. He pulled the blade across the skin of her upper arm but it didn't pierce the skin, so he pushed down harder. Anna clenched her jaw and breathed harshly through her nose while the hot pain shot through her.**_

_**"Tell me his name Anna and I'll stop. Tell me and everything will be alright."**_

_**But she wasn't stupid enough to believe his lies. Closing her eyes she tried her best to concentrate on her breathing as he slid the blade across the fabric of her top, pushing down enough to cut a jagged line across her stomache but not enough to cause her internal damage. This was about inflicting pain and over the years he had become an expert at that. He knew how to make her scream with the minimum amount of effort and he knew when to stop so that he wouldn't kill her. Not that that mattered this time. He wasn't going to hold himself back this time. **_

_**"You really aren't going to tell me are you. Stupid Bitch!"**_

_**His words were punctuated by another swipe of the knife.**_

_**"Do you really think he cares for you?"**_

_**He laughed harshly as he made little twisting cuts on her shoulder, his face inches from her own.**_

_**"I bet you are just one of many Abrianna, just I naive little girl, not worth his full attention. That's what you've always been. A pretty little trinket worth nothing more than a quick fuck."**_

_**He bit down on her other shoulder while he dug the blade in further. Laughing as he pulled away.**_

_That's when she had woken, with his cruel laughter ringing in her ears. Anna swung herself to sit on the edge of the bed for a moment, concentrating on slowing her breathing. She was fine. He wasn't there, she had gotten out, she was safe. There was a knock on the door and Anna flinched._

_"Anna. Lass, are you al-r-r-right. Fuck. I h-h-heard a s-s-scream."_

_Smiling a little at the old man's concern she moved to the door and opened it enough to put her head through the gap._

_"I'm fine thank you Doc. It was just a nightmare."_

_With a sympathetic smile he nodded and she was glad that he didn't ask for any details._

_"Breakfast is on the t-t-table."_

_She smiled gratefully as he walked away. She really did have the best of both worlds here. She had her freedom, and the privacy to figure out who she wanted to be. But she wasn't alone. Seeing that there was a thick robe on the back of the door she pulled it on. There was a pair of slippers under the bed as well, and even though they were far too big she pulled them onto her feet. She could do with a hot drink and something to eat to clear away the nightmare that had really been a memory. Taking the phone from the bedside table she pt it into the pocket of her robe. She wouldn't need it, but it's weight was reassuring at her side._

Once we were dressed an fed Murphy suggested that we pay Anna a visit and I agreed. Once he saw that she was alright after her first night away from us he would feel much better. And maybe then the both of us would actually be able to get some sleep. As we made to leave however I noticed him putting a wooden box into his pocket. It had been under his bed and only just fit in the pocket of his coat. I had only seen it once before. That first night after Anna had collapsed in exhaustion after telling us what had happened. Rocco had handed Murphy back the note he had written to her the night before. My brother had taken out that same box then and placed the crumpled paper inside. That was where he had been keeping them, the letters they had been passing back and forth. I didn't know why he suddenly wanted to give them to her, but I hoped he wasn't making a big mistake.


	18. It's not true

Note: Chapter 18 is here. Sorry it took so long. I have been working on my SPN story 'The Weapon' as well as a new SPN fic 'Salt and Burn'. This fic has been getting harder to write.

P.S. I think I am going to change the rating of this story to M just to be on the safe side. It will get less traffic but I don't want to scar anyone. What Anna remembers in this chapter may appear later as well and will probably be referenced. It isn't pleasant (Not that the other crap that she has been through is all puppies and rainbows). I won't go into too much detail with it but this chapter does contain object rape so be warned. If you don't want to read it skip the section in _**Bold Italics**_.

**Big mistake**

I watched my brother carefully as we stepped outside of our building. He didn't seem as agitated as he had done last night and I wondered whether it was the weight of the box keeping him calm. Out of pure habit we lit a cigarette each before starting the short walk to Doc's. As we walked I finally let myself wonder how Anna had been her first night away from us. I hadn't let myself dwell on it the night before, Murphy had been worrying enough for the both of us. Besides she was perfectly safe. No one even knew she was alive, she wasn't alone, and she had her phone. I glanced over at my brother again, and still he was strangely calm. That was when I saw the reason behind it. The night before he had been worried sure, but the seperation made it worse. It might have been Anna's first night alone, but it was Murph's first night without her as well. Ever since we had come to get her he had hated letting her out of his sight. It was if he expected Lorenzo to whisk her away the minute his back was turned. That is what had kept him awake. Now though we were on our way to see her, he was moments away from her and so feeling less tense.

When we got to Doc's Anna was sitting at the kitchen table slowly eating her way through the comically large breakfast Doc had made for her. I tried not to laugh when I realised that the old man was still pottering around the kitchen. He wasn't used to having anyone else to look after, not since his wife had died. Now though it looked like he may have overdone it.

"Mornin' Doc"

I managed to say without letting any of the laughter out while Murphy pulled a seat out to sit next to Anna. She had finally given up on the mountain of food on her plate and pushed it away from her.

"M-m-m-morning boys. Fuck."

I couldn't hold it in anymmre I laughed as I pushed Doc away from the sink. He was obviously trying his hardest to make Anna feel welcome in his home, not realising that she already did.

"I'll get those old man."

He relaxed a little as he sat across from my brother with a cup of coffee in hand. For a while the four of us were silent as I finished washing the dishes. Eventually Anna excused herself to get dressed while Murphy and I picked at her leftover breakfast.

"She had a n-n-nightmare this morning."

Doc said suddenly and we both looked up. It shouldn't have been a surprise really, not after everything that she had been through. But she hadn't had a single nightmare while she had been staying with us. She had flashes of memory like the one that she had the day before when Murphy had touched her face, but she had slept peacefully. This was different though, things were different here. Our appartment was essentually one large room. There were no doors, no barriers. We were always there at night to watch over her. Here Anna had Doc just down the hall, but in her room she was alone.

"What was it about?"

Murph asked, looking down at the plate again as he tried to stay calm.

"She didn't s-s-say. Fuck. But she was s-s-screaming. Ass!"

_Doc was pondering whether he should wake his guest for breakfast or let her come down in her own time. He had just decided tolet her come down on her own, he didn't want to scare the poor girl any more than she already had been, when he heard the first scream._

_"Ahhhhh, no!"_

_He rushed towards Anna's door, but then he hesitated._

_"No, It's not true! No. Aaaaaaah!"_

_He knocked lightly on the door, to get her attention, and hopefully pull her out of whatever nightmare she was having._

_"Anna. Lass, are you al-r-r-right. Fuck. I h-h-heard a s-s-scream."_

She hadn't explained to Doc what her dream had been about, and he hadn't asked. But we could take a guess. No doubt it was about Lorenzo. But I had no idea what he had said to her that she was remembering. I glanced at my brother and noticed that he was licking his lips nervously. I hadn't seen him do that in years, a nervous habit he had picked up as a child. Then he was standing.

"I'm going to go see if she's alright."

_Anna sat on what was now her bed, running the towel through her short hair to make sure that it was dry. The shower had done very little to wash that morning's dream away. But it had let her think a little clearer. She was still a little stiff, especially when she walked, but she was keeping the reason for that to herself._

_**"A pretty little trinket worth nothing more than a quick fuck."**_

_**He bit down on her other shoulder while he dug the blade in further. Laughing as he pulled away.**_

_**"I'll show you what you're good for you little bitch!"**_

_**She flinched as he grabbed the fabric between her legs tightly in one hand and ripped the knife throu the taught fabric with the other. Then he dropped the knife and ripped the two layers of fabric more with his hands. Anna's eyes went wide as he laughed again.**_

_**"I'll show you the only thing you are good for Abrianna. You fucking whore."**_

_**Lorenzo picked something up from beside him on the bed. But Anna didn't have time to see what it was before he shoved it roughly inside her with one sharp movement. The scream left her mouth before she could stop it and he laughed again. Her one consolation was that whatever it was it hadn't been the knife, that had falen on the floor when he had dropped it. Anna tried to calm herself on thoughts of how the knife would have been worse. But whatever it was he was forcing between her legs it was doing a good enou job of tearing up her insides. She screamed again.**_

_**"What's wrong Anna? Don't you like this. Can't you take it you little slut!"**_

_A quiet knock brought Anna out of her thoughts with a start._

_"Anna, Grasta? Can I come in?"_

_Shaking her head a little in an attempt to dislodge the awful memories from her mind Anna stood and shuffled to the door. Opening it slowly she tried to smile at Murphy on the other side of the door._

_"Hey Murph. Sure."_

_She shuffled back to the bed and sat down. The false smile refused to stay on her face, but Anna knew that he would see right through it anyway._

_"Doc says you had a nightmare."_

_Murphy stated. His first instinct had been to sit beside her but he ignored it, electing to lean against the desk on the other side of the small room._

_"What was it about?"_

_**"A pretty little trinket worth nothing more than a quick fuck."**_

_Again she pushed the memory aside._

_"It was nothing Murph, just remembering some stuff, you know."_

_Anna could feel him watching her but she kept looking down at her sock covered feet._

_"What did he say to you Anna? He said something didn't he."_

_She flinched as the words came back to her. The ones that she had been telling herself over and over weren't true. But her reassurances did nothing to erase them._

_**"Do you really think he cares for you? I bet you are just one of many Abrianna, just I naive little girl, not worth his full attention. That's what you've always been. A pretty little trinket worth nothing more than a quick fuck."**_

_It's not true. It's not true. It's not true._

_"What's not true?"_

_He asked and Anna's gaze snapped up to meet his. She couldn't have said it out loud, could she. Did she?_

_"What did he say?"_

_**"I bet you are just one of many Abrianna, just I naive little girl, not worth his full attention. "**_

_"It's not true Anna."_

_He said and she knew she had done it again, voiced her thoughts without meaning to. Murphy was kneeling in front of her now pulling one of her hands into his._

_"He was lieing to you. Grasta, ta me chomh doirte sin duit. I love you."_

_Then he stood, kissed her hand and then placed a wooden box into it._

When Murphy came back we left for work. He didn't say anything about what had happened in her room but I noticed that the box was no longer straining against his pocket. I wanted to ask him what Anna's nightmare had been about but I knew that would be a big mistake. I could see that he was barely holding onto his composure as it was and we had work.


	19. Progress

Note: Chapter 19 is finished. Inspired by swlfangirl and others I have decided to do a month challenge. Although instead of writing a one-shot a day I will be updating something everyday for the month of July. This chapter was written 2/7/14.

**Big mistake**

The weeks passed and we got into a routine again. Every morning we would stop by to see Anna and Doc. She would sit there eating the breakfast that she now insisted she cook, as we had all 'done so much for her already' as she put it. We protested at first but then we realised that she was just looking for something to do in the morning, something to take her mind off of the nightmares. Every morning as we ate she would refuse to tell us about her dreams, but we knew she was having them. Every morning when Doc came to the door to let us in the same thing would happen. He would nod sadly answering our unasked question.

After breakfast we would leave for work. Every morning as we were leaving Anna would walk us to the door and Murphy would kiss her hand once. I wondered when my brother had become such a hopless romantic but then I remembered that their relationship was stuck in a place where that was all that he could do. Anna still wasn't very good with touch, so they didn't. Everything brought back memories of her husband, except that. That archaic little gesture was 100 percent Murphy in her mind.

Then after work we would go back to our apartment, shower change and make our way to McGinties where we would meet Rocco and spend some time with Anna. At first we would just sit and talk in Doc's kitchen, but now thanks to her improving health and a present from her brother she was ready to be around other people again and was going to sit with us in our usual booth.

_Anna was sitting cross-legged on her bed reading when she heard the knock on the door. Of course she didn't have long to wonder who it could be, because her brother was not known for his subtilty. She could hear him greeting Doc enthusiastically and making his way towards what had become her room. She had been living there for a month now, and although she was still having nightmares every night she thought she was doing much better._

_Marking her place Anna put the book aside and opened the bedroom door to see David grinning triumphantly at her with something bulky under his arm._

_"Rise and Shine Little Sis. We've got a lot to do today."_

_She looked at him sceptically. Ever since he had found out about her nightmares her brother had been unbareable. Constanly asking her questions and insisting that she needed to talk about it. But now he was obviously trying a different tactic and she was entirgued._

_"What are you talking about David?"_

_He laughed, linking his free arm with hers and pulling her towards ne of the store rooms. As it turned out the thing under David's arm was a punshing bag which he promptly hung from the ceiling with an incredibly smug look on his face._

_"I'm going to teach you some self defence."_

_With that he took a wrinkled picture of Lorenzo's face out of his pocket and taped it to the punching bag Then pulling back he punched it as hard as he could._

_"Come on, give it a try. It's fun Punch that sadistic fuck right in his fucking face."_

_And she did. Even though she had never punched anyone before in her entire life , she clenched her fists and punched her husband's image as hard as she could. In fact it was quite a while before David could get her to stop. _

Now the three of us were sitting at the bar watching the door behind the bar. Doc had assured us that Anna hadn't changed her mind, that she would be with us soon, that she just needed moment to compose herself.

_Anna looked at herself in the mirror one last time. She was starting to get used to it now. That stranger looking back at her. The bruises were ow gone, the scars were fading, and yet she still wore the loose jeans and high necked sweaters. It was like a secruity blanket and she was starting to get used to her reflection. As her hair grew the original dark brown came through, but she kept it short, trimming more and more of the blonde away and out of her life. She liked it. She was actually starting to like what she saw in the mirror._

_Taking a deep breath, Anna forced herself away from the reflective surface. She could do this, she had been to the bar with David and their friends so many times. She didn't even need to speak to anyone else if she didn't want to. She couldn't hide away forever, and there wouldn't be anyone there who would rat her out to her husband. It was time that she got on with her life, whatever that was now._

As the door opened the three of us looked up together. Anna was standing in the doorway, obviously she was nervous, but she was also smiling. The four of us moved to the booth that had been our usual spot. It had only been four months since we had last sat here together the four of us, but it felt like years.

Just like all of the times before Murphy and I sat across from Rocco and his sister, each of us with a drink in front of us and the usual chatter of the regulars around us. A lot had changed, but sitting there in such a faliar situation it felt like everything was back to normal. Anna was getting better every day, Rocco was getting to spend moretime with her, And my brother? Well judging by the look on Murph's face he was still head over heels for her.

As the evening wore on we forgot about everything else and for the first time since we had carried Anna out of her husbands house nothing else existed and nothing could go wrong. This was our safe place. But eventually we would learn that nowhere was really safe. That was our big mistake.


	20. Her own woman

Note: Chapter 20 is finished. Inspired by swlfangirl and others I have decided to do a month challenge. Although instead of writing a one-shot a day I will be updating something everyday for the month of July. This chapter was written 7/7/14. Sorry it's a bit short.

**Big mistake**

After our little trip to the bar Anna's recovery seemed to speed up considerably. It was only a couple of days later that she took another huge step. We had finished work and we had only been home a few minutes when I heard a knock on the door. Murphy and I looked at one another for a moment before I moved to answer it. Who could be at our door? We didn't often have visitors. I opened the door to reveal a smiling Anna with what looked like a casserole dish in her hands. Without a word she pushed past me and into the apartment. Placing the dish, which I could now see held lasagne, on the counter she started moving around looking for clean dishes.

"Anna, sweetheart, what are you doing?"

She smiled again as she put two steaming plates of food down on the table.

"Well I know you boys don't really take the time to eat properly so i thought if I brought you something I could make sure that you had something before we went to the pub."

With that she grabbed each of us by the hand and pulled us towards the table. Then once we were sitting she leant over to kiss Murph on the cheek before she disappeared out of the door again. As it turned out that was the first time of many and it wasn't the only step forward that she took in that first month after our trip to the bar and the fifth month after Anna left the penthouse.

_Anna sat with her hands clasped tightly around the coffee cup that she held. It was early, far earlier than she would usually get up to make breakfast, but she wanted to speak to Doc before the MacManus brothers arrived. She had been thinking about this ever since her first night back at the bar a few weeks before and she couldn't get it out of her head._

_She smiled softly as Doc put his head around the kitchen door. Obviously he had heard her moving around and had come to investigate._

_"M-m-morning Anna. Is everything alright?"_

_He shuffled through the door and sat across from her at the table. Setting the cup down Anna pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket. She unfolded it and placed it flat on the table, turning it so that Dc could read what it said. It was the 'Help Wanted' sign that she had seen in McGinties that night, the one that Doc had put up._

_"I wanted to speak to you about the waitressing job. I need to do something with my time, and I may as well help you out while I'm here. You've done so much for me already, and I'm probably eating you out of house and home at the moment. This is the only way I can think of to pay you back."_

That night when we arrived at the bar we were surprised to see Anna behind the bar pulling pints. Doc was keeping a close eye on her but she was dooing well enough on her own. I smiled as I sat down at the bar, but Murphy remained standing in shocked silence.

"Hi Connor. What can I get you?"

I smiled again as she moved to get our drinks. I couldn't help but compare the Anna standing in front of me to the woman we had found covered in blood in her own penthouse, or even the nervous thing Rocco had brought into this very same bar all those months ago. She seemed so happy. I knew that she was still having nightmares and that she still had flashbacks whenever she was touched, but she was getting better, much better. And being around others would help enormously. Murph's sudden decision to sit down brought me out of my thoughts and I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. I could see exactly what he was thinking. Anna had been at our apartment less than an hour beforehand and hadn't said anything. Obviously wanting her new job to be a surprise, or worried that Murphy would object she had kept it a secret.

"You know what Murph, life is never going to be dull with that one around."

That was when I realised that Anna was never going to let a man control her ever again. No matter what she felt for my brother, she wasn't going to make things easy on him. She was her own woman and if anyone tried to dictate to her, then they were making a big mistake.


	21. Cover

Note: Chapter 21 is finished. Sorry for the long delay. Apparently the depression stage of my unemployment is in full swing.

**Big mistake**

Anna's next big step came a few weeks after she started working in the bar, even though at the time I was convinced that Murphy was going to have a heart attack. We were sitting at the bar rather than in the booth as we had started to do while Anna was working. She had become popular with the regulars very quickly. Some recognised her from her times at the bar with us and her brother, and some made the connection between her and the scandalous stories in the newspaper, but none of them said anything about it. They liked her too much. And those that made the connection had seen her bruises heal over the weeks, had seen her walking stiffly, and gave her the space she needed.

Lorenzo had covered his tracks well. During the first phone call that Rocco had been forced to make to the penthouse he had put his cover story into action. Anna, he said, had decided on a trip to Europe, and he had encouraged her. Things were getting more complicated with the Russians and he thought it best that she not be around all of that stress. He had neglected to call Rocco, he claimed, as he had assumed that his sister had called him herself. As the weeks passed he made a decent show of appearing more and more worried by his wife's lack of contact. A couple of times he called Roc asking if he had heard from her, or if they had any friends or relatives still living in Italy.

That was when the newspaper stories started. They started out small, speculations about what could have happened to the missing Mrs Yakavetta, and rumours that she had been seen with a mystery man not long before she left. Lorenzo called Rocco again begging to know where she had gone, that he just wanted to know that she was alright, but of course he didn't know anything about it. Soon the questions started about who this mystery man had been and together Anna and her brother came up with a plan.

_Anna paced nervously back and forward as she waited for David to finish talking to her husband. They had a plan, a way to get Lorenzo to stop questioning her brother, she just hoped it worked. At first she had been surprised when her husband started questioning David about her supposed affair. She had assumed that his pride would prevent him from voicing his suspicions, but she was wrong. Apparently his desire for vengence outweighed that. He had gotten rid of her and now he was trying to use her 'disappearance' to get answers out of her brother. Luckily from what she could tell he was sticking to the script._

_"Look man. I'm gonna be honest. I don't have a fucking clue where she is and I'm freaking out. I know I said I didn't know anything about her affair, and I didn't, but I fucking knew she was up to something. I mean she's my fucking sister man. What am I supposed to do? She says she wants to meet up with some friends so I drop her off at some bar and I leave her to it. I don't think about it cos I've got fucking work to do you know. And I pick her up again and drop her home. Then she says if anyone one asks she was with me all night. And I think sure, she's my baby sister. So I don't ask, and when she wants me to drop her off again a couple of weeks later again, I do. But this goes on for months and I ask her what the fuck is going on. And she hust says it's better that I don't know. So I leave it and now I don't know what to do. Do you think... I mean, fuck man, do you think she's been seeing some asshole. What if he did something to her? Yeah I know man. You'll find this fucking cunt right? Yeah sure. I'll call you if I hear anything."_

_Anna breathed a sigh of relief as her brother hung up the phone. The idea was to play on Lorenzo's belief that David Della Rocco didn't have a fucking clue what he was doing and would believe anything his baby sister told him. It would also give the impression that David suspected whoever Anna had been seeing and not Lorenzo himself. That way, if Lorenzo thought of David as still just a harmless package boy, he was much safer._

That had been the day before, and as we sat at the bar we congratulated Rocco on his performance. In fact we were so concerned with the victory from the previous day that we nearly missed what happened. As I said most of the regulars had guessed who she really was and gave her the space she needed. But it was a bar, and although it was rare for strangers to stumble in, it did occasionally happen. That night had been one of those nights and a small group of newcomers sat in one of the booths drinking heavily.

Anna was moving around the room collecting empty glasses so that they could be washed, while Murphy ordered the next round from Doc. I happened to glance over at the newcomers in their booth as Anna approached their table leaning over to collect their empties.

"Shit!"

I exclaimed as I saw it happening. It was almost in slow motion that I saw one of the men at the table move towards her and his hand slid up her leg. There was a crash as Anna dropped the glasses she was holding. At the same time as Murphy moved from beside me.

"Fucking piece of shit!"

He yelled striding towards the booth with murder in his eyes, but the man had already been taken care of. Anna was standing with the man pushed down against the table. Despite her size she had managed to not only grab the mans arm and twist it behind his back, but to hold it there as she slammed his head onto the table top. Rocco and I both stood at the same time and rushed towards them. I grabbed my brother pulling him back as Rocco convinced his sister to let go of her death grip.

As she let go Anna turned towards Murphy where I was holding him back and we could see that she was terrified. Almost instantly Murph managed to calm himself and I let him go. He pulled her into his arms muttering in Gaelic and led her through the back and away from the bar. Meanwhile Rocco was manhandling the man out the front door cursing all the way.

"You fucking assholes gotta learn some fucking respect!"

I turned to the man's friends who were all sitting looking a little shell-shocked.

"I suggest you all clear out before my brother or his girl get back."

I said, but I didn't wait to watch them leave. Instead I followed after Roc to make sure that he didn't beat the fucker. We didn't want any trouble, especially anything that could throw the spotlight on either Anna or her brother. That would be a big mistake.


	22. Surprise call

Note: Chapter 22 is finished. I actually forgot until I started writing this chapter that their mother's name is Annabelle.

**Big mistake**

It wasn't until we were both back home and getting ready for bed that I realised how big a step Anna had taken that day. Just a few weeks ago a single touch would have driven her into a state of panic as she relived some of the things her husband used to do to her. Now though, although she had obviosly been scared, her first instinct had been to incapacitate the guy. Obviously the basic self defence her brother had been teaching her was paying off.

_Anna 's breath stopped as she felt the touch. She dropped the glasses she was holding and grabbing the hand that was touching her she forced away from her body. Working on instinct she twisted the arm behind the guys back and forced him forwards until his head hit the table with a thump. Only then did she breath again and start to notice the world around her. David was whispering in her ear and he had a hand over each of hers trying to loosen her grip._

_"It's alright Sorellina. I got this. It's alright."_

_Gradually she let go and turned to see Murphy. His brother was holding him back and he looked angry, but she knew it wasn't directed at her. As she took a step towards him he relaxed a little and Connor let him go. Then he was pulling her into his arms and lead her away from the bar. He was muttering something to her and although she didn't understand what he was saying it calmed her down. Soon the two of them were standing in her room and she didn't want to let him go._

_"It's alright Grasta, I'm here. No one is going to hurt you."_

_It wasn't until much later when everyone had gone home and she was getting ready for bed that night that she realised that she hadn't had a flashback throughout the whole incident._

It was good to see that Anna was recovering so well and the routine that we all found ourselves in helped with that. Our mornings were spent having breakfast with Anna and Doc. When we got back from work Anna would come around to have dinner with us before heading out to work herself. Six months after Anna's 'Death' and nearly a year and a half after we had first met the woman there was a slight disruption to that same routine.

It wasn't much of a disruption and it was entirely unintentional. Murphy and I were running late as we left work that day and the weather was against us as we walked home, so by the time that we reached our tiny apartment Anna was already there. That in itself wasn't a problem, and it wasn't unexpected. Murphy had called her as we left work, so we knew that she would be there. What we hadn't been expecting was to find Anna talking and laughing as we walked through the door.

_Anna pushed the door open with the casserole dish in her hands. It was a little odd being back here again on her own, but they were on their way and would be back soon. Humming under her breath she put the dish into the oven to heat up and then moving over to the fridge she opened a beer and sat down to wait for Murphy and his brother. That was when the phone started ringing._

_It took Anna a moment to figure out what was happening. Even though she knew that it was there, she had never heard the landline ring before. In fact she hadn't even been aware that it was connected until now. She was so surprised that she didn't even think before she answered it._

_"Hello?"_

_It was only after she spoke that Anna thought it may not have been the best idea to answer the call. But then the person on the other end started to speak._

_"Oh Hello. Are my boys there?"_

_The accent and the phrase 'my boys' told Anna who she was talking to, and she relaxed a little._

_"No actually, eh, they were held up at work. They should be back soon. Is this... I mean, am I speaking to Mrs MacManus."_

_There was a laugh on the other end of the line._

_"Indeed it is lass. And you must be Anna. Poor dear."_

_Anna didn't quite know what to think when she realised that the brothers must have told their mother about her. It was a little scary, but at the same time it was nice to speak to someone else outside of their little group._

We just stood there in silence for a moment trying to figure out who Anna was talking to, before she turned towards us with a smile.

"oh. No, no, I'm fine Mrs M. But I think we're going to have to cut short the story telling for today. That's them home."

Of course the fact that only one person ever called our landline should have told us who she was talking to, but we were still surprised to hear her chatting away with our mother.

"What do you mean story-telling?"

Murphy asked incredulously, but she just laughed and handed me the phone.

"Hi Ma."

It wasn't often that she phoned, and I couldn't believe that she had called when we weren't in. But the surprise hadn't appeared to have done Anna any harm. As I was talking to ma, I could see my brother helping her with dinner. They both seemed happy as they moved around each other. They were even touching, just the odd hand on a shoulder or fingers brushing as they moved but it was progress. I smiled, I was happy for them. And apparently ma liked Anna as well.

"Now Connor, you put your brother on the phone. I tell you Murphy better treat that girl right or there will be hell to pay."

I laughed knowing how much he cared for Anna. Besides no one in their right mind would get on the wrong side of Mrs Annabelle MacManus, that would be a big mistake.


End file.
